These Are the 20 Largest Holders of US Government Debt, Controlling IDR 165,000 Trillion
The United States government’s debt has continued to swell, reaching an all-time high of US$40 trillion, equivalent to IDR 710 quadrillion at an assumed exchange rate of IDR 17,750 per US dollar. The scale of financing needs has forced the US government to issue ever more debt securities to cover its deficit and repay maturing obligations. These securities are not only purchased by domestic investors; central banks, governments, banks, investment firms, hedge funds and private investors from various countries also place funds in the US bond market.
According to the latest data from the Treasury International Capital (TIC) system of the US Department of the Treasury, total foreign investor holdings of US government debt reached US$9.29 trillion, equivalent to IDR 164,897 trillion, at the end of June. That figure fell by US$72.1 billion, or 0.77%, compared with US$9.371 trillion in May. Compared with June 2025, however, foreign holdings still rose by US$205.4 billion, or 2.3%. Purchases also slowed, with US debt securities recording net inflows of only US$6.8 billion in June, far smaller than the US$56.6 billion recorded in May.
Japan remained the largest holder with US$1.117 trillion, equivalent to around 12% of all US debt held by foreign investors. Japan’s holdings fell by US$26.4 billion month-on-month and were down US$38.1 billion compared with June 2025. The United Kingdom ranked second with US$939.9 billion; although its holdings declined on a monthly basis, they were still up US$84.3 billion, or 9.9%, over the year. China was third with US$633.4 billion, down US$25.9 billion in a month and US$98 billion, or 13.4%, lower than June 2025. It should be noted that holdings are recorded based on the country where the assets are held through custodians, not on the nationality or country of origin of the ultimate owner.
China’s holdings were the lowest since 2008. Over the course of a year, China’s recorded holdings fell by almost US$100 billion, from US$731.4 billion to US$633.4 billion. According to Reuters, the latest position was the lowest since September 2008, when China’s holdings stood at US$618.2 billion. The decline does not necessarily mean China is abandoning all dollar-denominated assets; the funds could be shifted into US agency debt, gold, assets in other currencies, or held through custodians in other countries. China still held foreign exchange reserves of US$3.41 trillion at the end of June 2026, meaning US government debt recorded directly under Chinese investors represented only about 18.5% of its total reserves. Besides China, India and Brazil also significantly reduced their holdings, with India’s down US$41 billion, or 18%, and Brazil’s down US$47 billion, or 21.8%.
Indonesia does not appear in the list of the 20 largest holders of US government debt. However, investors recorded as originating from Indonesia still held US$32.01 billion of US government debt in the latest data. That was down 14%, or about US$5.21 billion, from US$37.22 billion in May. Compared with a year earlier, Indonesian investors’ holdings were still up by US$614 million. Of the total, US$20.09 billion was placed in long-term debt securities, while the remaining US$11.92 billion was in short-term securities.