U.K. holdings of U.S. Treasuries top $1 trillion for the first time as China's fall to the lowest since 2008

U.S. Treasury securities held in the United Kingdom topped $1 trillion for the first time at the end of August, while Japan and China cut their holdings again, leaving China's at the lowest level since 2008, Treasury Department data released on Friday showed.

Britain passes $1 trillion

Foreign investors held $9.332 trillion of U.S. Treasury securities at the end of August, up $83.3 billion from July, according to Treasury International Capital data the Treasury Department released on Friday. July's total of $9.248 trillion had been the lowest since October 2025.

The United Kingdom, the second-largest foreign holder, added $11.2 billion to reach $1.0095 trillion. That is the first time its month-end holdings have topped $1 trillion in the Treasury's records of major foreign holders. Canada posted the biggest increase, adding $38.3 billion to $464.6 billion, and Belgium added $19.8 billion to $490.5 billion.

Japan and China keep cutting

Japan, the largest foreign holder, reduced its holdings by $35.6 billion to $1.0683 trillion. It was Japan's fourth straight monthly decline and left its holdings at the lowest level since December 2024, when they stood at $1.0615 trillion.

Mainland China, the third-largest holder, cut its holdings by $27.3 billion to $590.7 billion, a third straight monthly drop. The Treasury's historical figures put that at the lowest since 2008. China held $573.7 billion at the end of August 2008 and had held more at every month-end since, until this report.

Holdings attributed to foreign official institutions, such as central banks and governments, fell $17.5 billion to $3.756 trillion. Within that, their Treasury bills dropped $42.2 billion to $312.2 billion.

Money still flowed in

The broader flow figures were strong. The Treasury said foreign residents made net purchases of $300.7 billion of long-term U.S. securities in August, and that all net foreign acquisitions of long-term securities, short-term securities and banking flows added up to a net inflow of $199.8 billion. Foreign residents reduced their holdings of Treasury bills by $47.8 billion.

Reading the country figures

The holdings numbers move with bond prices as well as with buying and selling. The Treasury also cautions that the data come mainly from custodians, so a Treasury security bought by an investor in one country but held in an account in another is counted under the second country. That makes it hard to tie shifts among holders such as the U.K., Belgium and Canada to any single government or investor.

The figures cover August, before the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point on Sept. 16 to a range of 3.75% to 4%. The 10-year Treasury yield ended Friday at 5.09%, according to the Treasury's daily yield-curve data. The next release, covering September, is scheduled for Nov. 18.