Foreign investors bought $233 billion worth of long-term US securities in May, according to the Treasury Department’s latest International Capital (TIC) data released on July 14. That figure represents a dramatic acceleration from previous months and signals that global appetite for US government debt isn’t just alive, it’s ravenous.
To put that number in perspective: March saw $96.5 billion in net foreign purchases of long-term US securities. April clocked in at $50.5 billion just for Treasury bonds and notes alone. May’s $233 billion figure makes those look like warm-up acts.
What the TIC data actually tells us
The TIC report tracks cross-border flows of financial assets, measuring how much foreign money is moving into or out of US securities each month.
Total foreign holdings of US Treasuries have reached approximately $9.5 trillion as of early 2026. Long-term securities make up roughly 84% of that figure, meaning the overwhelming majority of foreign-held US debt isn’t short-term parking.
