December 29, 2020
The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was –$13.95 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2020, according to statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Assets totaled $29.41 trillion and liabilities were $43.36 trillion. At the end of the second quarter, the net investment position was –$13.08 trillion.
- The –$865.6 billion change in the net investment position from the second quarter to the third quarter came from net financial transactions of –$219.9 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and exchange rate changes, of –$645.7 billion.
- U.S. assets increased by $629.2 billion, to a total of $29.41 trillion, mostly reflecting increases in portfolio investment and direct investment assets that were driven mainly by the appreciation of major foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar and by foreign stock price increases that raised the value of these assets.
- U.S. liabilities increased by $1.49 trillion, to a total of $43.36 trillion, mostly reflecting increases in portfolio investment and direct investment liabilities that were driven mainly by U.S. stock price increases that raised the value of these liabilities.
The international investment position statistics reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic recovery. The full economic effects of the pandemic cannot be separately identified in the statistics. For more information, see the full release.