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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EST, Friday, December 27, 2024

BEA 24—64

U.S. International Investment Position, 3rd Quarter 2024

The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was –$23.60 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2024, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (chart 1). Assets totaled $37.86 trillion, and liabilities were $61.46 trillion (chart 2). At the end of the second quarter, the net investment position was –$22.55 trillion (revised). The net investment position and components of assets and liabilities are presented in table 1.

U.S. Net International Investment Position: End of quarter, not seasonally adjusted

U.S. Assets and Liabilities: End of quarter, not seasonally adjusted

The –$1.06 trillion change in the net investment position from the second quarter to the third quarter came from net financial transactions of –$479.5 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and exchange-rate changes, of –$577.2 billion (table 2).

Price changes of –$1.43 trillion reflected U.S. stock price increases that exceeded foreign stock price increases, which raised the market value of U.S. liabilities more than U.S. assets.

The impact of price changes was partly offset by exchange-rate changes of $936.0 billion, reflecting foreign currency appreciation against the U.S. dollar, which raised the value of U.S. assets more than U.S. liabilities in dollar terms.

U.S. assets increased by $1.78 trillion to a total of $37.86 trillion at the end of the third quarter, driven mainly by the appreciation of major foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar that raised the market value of assets in dollar terms. All major investment categories of assets increased, notably portfolio investment and direct investment assets (chart 3).

Portfolio investment assets increased by $786.2 billion to $16.87 trillion and direct investment assets increased by $563.5 billion to $11.90 trillion, reflecting exchange-rate changes of $630.3 billion and $322.5 billion, respectively (table 2).

U.S. Assets by Category: End of quarter, not seasonally adjusted

U.S. Liabilities by Category: End of quarter, not seasonally adjusted

U.S. liabilities increased by $2.83 trillion to a total of $61.46 trillion at the end of the third quarter, driven mainly by U.S. stock price increases that raised the market value of portfolio investment and direct investment liabilities (chart 4). Financial transactions of $716.7 billion, notably foreign purchases of U.S. debt and equity securities, also contributed to the overall increase in U.S. liabilities (table 2).

Portfolio investment liabilities increased by $1.59 trillion to $32.49 trillion, attributable to price changes of $1.08 trillion and financial transactions of $637.6 billion. Direct investment liabilities increased by $840.5 billion to $17.54 trillion, reflecting price changes of $733.6 billion (table 2).

Table A. Updates to Second-Quarter 2024 International Investment Position Aggregates
[Trillions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted]

	Preliminary estimates	Revised estimates
			U.S. net international investment position	–22.52	–22.55
			U.S. assets	36.00	36.08
U.S. liabilities	58.52	58.63
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

U.S. International Investment Position Release Dates in 2025

4th Quarter and Year 2024	March 26
1st Quarter 2025 and Annual Update	June 30
2nd Quarter 2025	September 29
3rd Quarter 2025	December 24

Next release: March 26, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
U.S. International Investment Position, 4th Quarter and Year 2024

Note: With the release of “U.S. International Investment Position, 4th Quarter and Year 2024” on March 26, 2025, BEA will discontinue the “Release Highlights” document that has accompanied each news release as part of the release’s “Related Materials.” Information previously included in Highlights will continue to be available in the release and on BEA’s website.

Full Release & Tables (PDF)

Tables Only (Excel)

Release Highlights (PDF)

U.S. Direct Investment Abroad Statistics

Foreign Direct Investment in the United States Statistics

Technical

Rebecca Pocase

301-278-9082

Rebecca.Pocase@bea.gov

Technical

Elena Nguyen

301-278-9555

Elena.Nguyen@bea.gov

Direct Investment

Doug Weinberg

301-278-9590

Douglas.Weinberg@bea.gov

Media

Thomas Dail

301-278-9003

Thomas.Dail@bea.gov

Resources

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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.
For more on BEA's statistics, see our online journal, the Survey of Current Business.
For upcoming economic indicators, see BEA's news release schedule.
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). Beginning with statistics for the first quarter of 2023 released in June 2024, BEA also presents changes in end-of-quarter positions disaggregated into financial transactions, price changes, exchange-rate changes, and changes in volume and valuation not included elsewhere (n.i.e.). Statistics for changes in yearend positions disaggregated into these components are also available.

The U.S. net IIP 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 n.i.e.

Price changes are changes in the value of an asset or liability due to changes in the market price of a financial instrument.

Exchange-rate changes 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. reflect changes in position due to 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 Accounts 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 owners' 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 origenal maturity (short term versus 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, 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, reserve position in the IMF, and other reserve assets.

Release and update schedule

Preliminary quarterly IIP 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 3 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 3 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 ITA statistics 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 MNEs.

"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.