Medium and long-term trends

Medium term: the past year

Changes over the latest 12 months, four quarters or 13 weeks, against the same period before.

Foreign private investors bought $844.2bn of US shares in the 12 months to August 2026, up from $644.9bn a year earlier. Within the US, money continued to move from mutual funds to exchange-traded funds, and US companies issued more shares than they bought back in the first half of 2026, after years in which buybacks took shares out of the market. Japan and China reduced their holdings of US Treasuries over the year, while holdings recorded in the UK, a custody centre, rose. Oil prices rose sharply in 2026, and hedge funds added to farm commodities and cut metals over the latest 13 weeks.

Long term: the past decade and more

Structural changes in reserves, trade balances, direct investment and population.

The dollar's share of central bank reserves has fallen from 70.8% in 2000 to 56.7%, with smaller currencies taking much of the difference, while the gold price has risen strongly over the past decade. The US current account deficit has roughly tripled since 2015, so the US relies more on foreign buying of its assets. Direct investment into China has fallen sharply since 2021, while investment into India, South East Asia, Mexico, Poland and the Gulf has grown. Gulf states have run large surpluses, and remittances to large lower-income countries have nearly doubled since 2015.

These indicators describe what has already happened, using the latest official figures available. They are not forecasts and not investment advice. "Direction" compares the latest figure with the earlier one shown.