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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

BEA 21-46

U.S. International Investment Position, Second Quarter 2021

The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was –$15.42 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2021, according to statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Assets totaled $34.20 trillion and liabilities were $49.62 trillion.

At the end of the first quarter, the net investment position was –$14.30 trillion (Table 1).

U.S. Assets and Liabilities: Quarterly, not seasonally adjusted

The –$1.12 trillion change in the net investment position from the first quarter to the second quarter came from net financial transactions of –$277.6 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and exchange rate changes, of –$841.4 billion that mostly reflected U.S. stock price increases that exceeded foreign stock price increases (Table A).

COVID-19 Impact on Second Quarter 2021 International Investment Position

The global pandemic and the economic recovery continued to impact the IIP in the second quarter of 2021. The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the IIP statistics because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

Table A. Quarterly Change in the U.S. Net International Investment Position
Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted

	End of quarter position, 2021 Q1	Change in position in 2021 Q2			End of quarter position, 2021 Q2
		Total	Attributable to:
		Total	Financial transactions	Other changes in position ¹
U.S. net international investment position	-14,300.5	-1,119.1	-277.6	-841.4	-15,419.6
Net position excluding financial derivatives	-14,333.6	-1,123.8	-269.0	-854.8	-15,457.5
Financial derivatives other than reserves, net	33.1	4.8	-8.6	13.4	37.9
U.S. assets	32,838.0	1,358.0	(²)	(²)	34,196.0
Assets excluding financial derivatives	30,679.1	1,410.8	259.3	1,151.4	32,089.8
Financial derivatives other than reserves	2,158.9	-52.8	(²)	(²)	2,106.1
U.S. liabilities	47,138.5	2,477.0	(²)	(²)	49,615.6
Liabilities excluding financial derivatives	45,012.7	2,534.6	528.3	2,006.2	47,547.3
Financial derivatives other than reserves	2,125.8	-57.5	(²)	(²)	2,068.3
1. Disaggregation of other changes in position into price changes, exchange rate changes, and other changes in volume and valuation is presented for annual statistics released in June each year. 2. Financial transactions and other changes in financial derivatives positions are available on a net basis; they are not separately available for U.S. assets and U.S. liabilities.

U.S. assets increased by $1.36 trillion, to a total of $34.20 trillion at the end of the second quarter, mostly reflecting increases in portfolio investment and direct investment assets. Portfolio investment assets increased by $755.8 billion, to $15.90 trillion, and direct investment assets increased by $656.4 billion, to $10.55 trillion, driven mainly by increases in foreign stock prices that raised the value of these assets.

U.S. liabilities increased by $2.48 trillion, to a total of $49.62 trillion at the end of the second quarter, mostly reflecting increases in portfolio investment and direct investment liabilities. Portfolio investment liabilities increased by $1.41 trillion, to $26.59 trillion, and direct investment liabilities increased by $927.2 billion, to $13.49 trillion, driven mainly by increases in U.S. stock prices that raised the value of these liabilities.

U.S. Assets: Quarterly, not seasonally adjusted

U.S. Liabilities: Quarterly, not seasonally adjusted

	Preliminary estimate	Revised estimate
Updates to First Quarter 2021 International Investment Position Aggregates Trillions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted
U.S. net international investment position	-14.32	-14.30
U.S. assets	32.81	32.84
U.S. liabilities	47.13	47.14

Upcoming Releases of New Statistics

With the releases of the U.S. international transactions accounts (ITAs) on December 21, 2021, and the international investment position (IIP) accounts on December 30, 2021, BEA will introduce two new ITA tables (ITA tables 4.6 and 6.3) and two new IIP tables (IIP tables 2.2 and 4.1), respectively. These new tables will be released in December to fulfill commitments to the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative and the International Monetary Fund’s Taskforce on Special Purpose Entities for the release of certain new statistics by yearend 2021. ITA table 4.6 will present primary income on foreign direct investment in U.S. resident special purpose entities (SPEs), which are U.S. legal entities with little or no employment or physical presence, and ITA table 6.3 will present financial transactions for direct investment in U.S. resident SPEs. IIP table 2.2 will present direct investment positions in U.S. resident SPEs, and IIP table 4.1 will present U.S. debt positions by currency, sector, and maturity for U.S. assets and liabilities.

In December, these tables will be released as supplemental Excel files to the respective releases. The SPE-related tables—ITA tables 4.6 and 6.3 and IIP table 2.2—will feature annual statistics for 2020, while IIP table 4.1 will feature quarter-end position statistics for the first quarter of 2020 through the third quarter of 2021. In March 2022, these tables will be updated and published as addenda to the current tables in BEA’s interactive data application. In June 2022, the statistics will be updated and incorporated into the standard presentations of the ITAs and the IIP accounts in the interactive data application and in BEA’s data application programming interface. ITA table templates and IIP table templates are provided on BEA’s website to prepare users for the upcoming changes. More information will be available in a preview article of BEA’s annual update of the international economic accounts in the April 2022 issue of the Survey of Current Business.

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Next release: December 30, 2021 at 8:30 A.M. EST
U.S. International Investment Position, Third Quarter 2021

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Full Release & Tables (PDF)

Tables Only (Excel)

Release Highlights (PDF)

U.S. Direct Investment Abroad Statistics

Foreign Direct Investment in the United States Statistics

Templates for New ITA Tables 4.6 and 6.3

Templates for New IIP Tables 2.2 and 4.1

Technical

Christopher Gohrband

(301) 278-9564

Christopher.Gohrband@bea.gov

Elena Nguyen

(301) 278-9555

Elena.Nguyen@bea.gov

Direct Investment

Doug Weinberg

301-278-9590

Douglas.Weinberg@bea.gov

Media (BEA)

Connie O'Connell

301-278-9003

Connie.OConnell@bea.gov

Resources

Stay informed about BEA developments by reading the BEA blog, signing up for BEA's email subscription service, or following BEA on Twitter @BEA_News.
Historical time series for these estimates can be accessed in BEA's interactive data application.
Access BEA data by registering for BEA's Data application programming interface (API).
For more on BEA's statistics, see our monthly online journal, the Survey of Current Business.
BEA's news release schedule.
More information on these international investment position statistics will be provided next month in the Survey of Current Business.
More information on the international investment position accounts and a description of the estimation methods used to compile them is provided in U.S. International Economic Accounts: Concepts and Methods.

Definitions

The international investment position (IIP) is a statistical balance sheet that presents the dollar value of U.S. financial assets and liabilities with respect to foreign residents at a specific point in time. BEA presents IIP statistics at the end of a quarter or year (March, June, September, and December). For the June release, BEA also presents statistics on changes in the yearend position that are disaggregated into financial transactions, price changes, exchange rate changes, and changes in volume and valuation not included elsewhere (n.i.e.).

The U.S. net international investment position is defined as the value of U.S. assets less the value of U.S. liabilities.

Financial transactions are transactions between U.S. residents and nonresidents in financial assets and liabilities. They are also recorded in the financial account of the international transactions accounts (ITAs). See Related Statistics below.

Other changes in position are changes in the value of U.S. assets or liabilities arising from any source besides a financial transaction. Other changes in position include price changes, exchange rate changes, and changes in volume and valuation not included elsewhere (n.i.e.).

Price changes (only presented for annual statistics in the June news release) are changes in the value of an asset or liability due to changes in the market price of a financial instrument.

Exchange rate changes (only presented for annual statistics in the June news release) are changes in the value of foreign-currency denominated assets and liabilities due to changes in the values of foreign currencies relative to the value of the U.S. dollar.

Changes in volume and valuation n.i.e. (only presented for annual statistics in the June news release) reflect changes in position due to year-to-year shifts in the composition of reporting panels, the incorporation of more comprehensive annual and benchmark survey results, and revaluations (holding gains and losses) on assets and liabilities that are not explained by price changes or exchange rate changes.

Functional categories are the primary classification system used in the IIP and in the financial account of the ITAs. The five functional categories are direct investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives other than reserves, other investment, and reserve assets. While the functional categories are based on features that are relevant for understanding cross-border financial transactions and positions, they also take into account some aspects of the relationship between transactors and the economic motivation for the investment. Within the functional categories, the IIP accounts are classified by type of financial instrument.

Direct investment is a category of cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise resident in another economy. Ownership or control of 10 percent or more of the voting securities of an entity in another economy is the threshold for separating direct investment from other types of investment. Direct investment positions include positions in equity and debt instruments. BEA's IIP statistics feature the market value measure of direct investment positions, a measure that values owner's equity at current-period prices using indexes of stock market prices.

Portfolio investment consists of cross-border positions involving equity and investment fund shares and debt securities, excluding those included in direct investment or reserve assets. Debt securities are classified by original maturity (short term vs. long term at the time of issue).

Financial derivatives other than reserves consist of cross-border positions arising from financial contracts that are linked to underlying financial instruments, commodities, or indicators. Positions in financial derivatives consist of contracts with positive and negative fair values. A contract with a positive fair value is a U.S. asset and represents the amount that a foreign resident would have to pay to a U.S. counterparty if the contract were terminated or settled. A contract with a negative fair value is a U.S. liability and represents the amount that a U.S. resident would have to pay to a foreign counterparty if the contract were terminated or settled. The gross positive (negative) fair value is the sum across all contracts with positive (negative) fair values. Fair values differ from notional values, which are the underlying amounts used to calculate payments on contracts. Gross positive and gross negative fair values for financial derivatives positions are available separately in table 1. However, transactions and other changes in financial derivatives positions are only available for the net position in financial derivatives. For other changes in position for financial derivatives presented in the June news release, statistics are not separately available for price changes, exchange rate changes, and changes in volume and valuation n.i.e.

Other investment includes cross-border positions other than those included in direct investment, portfolio investment, financial derivatives, and reserve assets. Other investment positions consist of positions in other equity (equity not in the form of securities), currency and deposits, loans, insurance technical reserves, trade credit and advances, and, for liabilities, special drawing rights allocations.

Reserve assets are those external assets that are readily available to and controlled by U.S. monetary authorities for meeting balance of payments financing needs, for intervention in exchange markets to affect the currency exchange rate, and for other related purposes such as maintaining confidence in the currency and the economy and serving as a basis for foreign borrowing. The major published components are monetary gold, International Monetary Fund (IMF) special drawing rights (SDRs), reserve position in the IMF, and other reserve assets.

Release and update schedule

Preliminary quarterly IIP account statistics are released in March, June, September, and December, approximately 90 days after the end of the reference quarter. These statistics are updated the following quarter to incorporate new and revised source data. Quarterly statistics are open for revision for at least the prior three years in annual updates released in June. Preliminary annual statistics are released in March reflecting positions at the end of the fourth quarter of the previous year. These annual statistics are open for revision for at least the prior three years in subsequent annual updates.

Related statistics

The IIP statistics comprise one part of a broader set of U.S. international economic accounts that, taken together, provide a comprehensive, integrated and detailed picture of U.S. international economic activities.

The international transactions accounts (ITAs) are released quarterly. Financial transactions reported in the financial account of the ITAs are one type of change in position recorded in the IIP. Financial transactions are transactions between U.S. residents and nonresidents for direct investment, portfolio investment, other investment, reserve assets, and financial derivatives.

Statistics on direct investment and multinational enterprises (MNEs) include annual statistics on the activities of U.S. MNEs and U.S. affiliates of foreign MNEs, detailed annual and quarterly statistics on direct investment, and annual statistics on new foreign direct investment in the United States.

Statistics on international services include detailed annual information on trade in services and on services supplied through the channel of direct investment by affiliates of multinational enterprises.

U.S. international trade in goods and services, released by BEA and the U.S. Census Bureau, provides monthly statistics on trade in goods and services.