Foreign investors can’t seem to get enough of American assets. New data from the U.S. Treasury show that overseas holdings of U.S. securities surged to $35.3 trillion as of June 30, 2025 — a staggering jump from $30.9 trillion just one year earlier.
That’s a gain of more than $4.4 trillion in twelve months, a figure that underscores just how much global capital continues to flow toward U.S. markets even amid persistent questions about dollar dominance, geopolitical friction, and the long-term trajectory of American debt. The preliminary figures, drawn from the Treasury’s annual survey of foreign holdings, paint a picture of an international investor base that remains deeply, perhaps irreversibly, entangled with Wall Street and Washington.
Breaking Down the Numbers
The composition of those holdings tells its own story. Of the $35,334 billion total, the lion’s share — $19,843 billion — sits in U.S. equities, a reflection of the relentless run-up in American stock markets over the past several years. Long-term debt securities accounted for another $13,839 billion, which itself includes $1,626 billion in asset-backed securities. Short-term debt rounded out the picture at $1,652 billion, according to figures released by the Treasury.
That equity-heavy skew is worth pausing on. It means foreign investors aren’t just parking money in Treasuries and walking away — they’re taking on equity risk, betting on American corporate earnings, and tying their financial fortunes to the performance of U.S. companies in a way that goes well beyond traditional sovereign reserve management.
Monthly Flows Tell a Different Story
Still, the monthly data adds some nuance. The Treasury’s Treasury International Capital report for June 2025 — which measures cross-border capital flows on a monthly basis rather than an annual snapshot — showed a net TIC inflow of just $77.8 billion for the month. That breaks down into $7.3 billion in net foreign private inflows and a much larger $70.5 billion in net foreign official inflows, the latter driven largely by central banks and sovereign wealth funds.
That’s the catch. The monthly flow numbers are considerably more modest than the annual totals might suggest. Much of the cumulative growth in foreign holdings reflects valuation changes — particularly the appreciation of U.S. equities — rather than a steady drumbeat of fresh foreign buying month after month. It’s a distinction that matters when trying to read the tea leaves on global appetite for American assets.
The Other Side of the Ledger
What about what Americans hold abroad? That picture has also expanded considerably. Preliminary data on U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2024 were published earlier this year, showing American investors held roughly $15.8 trillion in overseas securities — with the growth concentrated primarily in equity holdings, mirroring the global trend of equity outperforming fixed income in recent years.
A final report on that survey is expected by October 31, 2025. For context, the final report on the other side of the equation — foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities as of June 30, 2024 — was completed and released on April 30, 2025, giving analysts a relatively current baseline against which to measure the new preliminary figures.
Why It Matters
So what does all of this actually mean? At one level, it’s reassuring — massive and growing foreign demand for U.S. securities helps keep borrowing costs lower than they’d otherwise be and signals continued confidence in American financial markets. At another level, the sheer scale of foreign ownership creates vulnerabilities. A rapid unwinding of those positions, however unlikely, would send shockwaves through equity and bond markets alike.
For now, the direction of travel is clear. Global investors — governments, institutions, private funds — are holding more U.S. securities than at any point in recorded history. Whether that’s a sign of enduring American financial primacy or simply a reflection of a world that hasn’t yet found a credible alternative is, perhaps, the more interesting question.
Thirty-five trillion dollars is a lot of trust to place in any single country. The world, it seems, is still placing it.
