The Treasury sent out notice today of which foreign governments owned the most U.S. securities and debt at the end of June 2008. They, in conjunction with the Federal Reserve, measure this information on an annual basis.

Here’s the top 10 list:

The amount following the country’s name is in billions of dollars.

  1. Japan – 1,250
  2. China – 1,205
  3. United Kingdom – 864
  4. Cayman Islands – 832
  5. Luxembourg – 656
  6. Belgium – 456
  7. Canada – 441
  8. Ireland – 400
  9. Middle East Oil Exporters – 391
  10. Switzerland – 314

China excludes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – which report separately – HK is actually no. 19 and Taiwan is no. 18. Each of these countries also has its own currency (just an interesting FYI). I spent 3 months in HK in 2007 and visited Macau and Taiwan. Macau has been called the Far East’s Las Vegas – it’s full of glittering casinos. And Taiwan is where the non-communists fled after the communist revolution, taking with them many Chinese antiquities from thousands of years ago.

Middle East Oil Exporters include Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates

April 30, 2009