What Foreigners Buy U.S. Treasuries?

As we detailed in this week’s TIC Update, China is dangerously close to becoming a net seller of U.S. assets on a 12-month rolling basis.  Even their net purchases of U.S. Treasuries seem to be plummeting towards nothing.  If the Chinese are not buying Treasuries, then who is?

The charts below detail:

• Foreign buying of U.S. Treasuries (first)
• Foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries (second)
• Official versus private investor buying of U.S. Treasuries (third chart)
• Official versus private investor ownership of U.S. Treasuries (fourth chart)

The charts illustrate the following:

• Ownership patterns and buying patterns are very different.  The Japanese and Chinese own a lot of Treasuries but the UK is by far the largest buyer over the last 12 months.
• Years ago official institutions (central banks) were a huge buyer of U.S. Treasuries.  Today private investors dominate buying patterns.  Ownership patterns are the opposite. Official institutions own the larger share of Treasuries.