I just reviewed the data on who holds the United States debt, and it's quite interesting to see how it’s distributed. The numbers are huge: over $36 trillion in national debt, and most of it is financed by selling Treasury bonds to other countries.

Japan leads as the largest creditor with $1.13 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds. The interesting part is that it only grew by 0.75% compared to the previous year. The United Kingdom comes in second with $808 billion, and here there is some movement: it increased by 13% in the last year, from $714 billion. China, on the other hand, is in third place with $757 billion, but has decreased from $775 billion a year ago.

What caught my attention is that China has been reducing its holdings of U.S. bonds for years. A decade ago, it had around $1.3 trillion, and now it’s almost half that. It probably has to do with trade tensions and tariffs that have been mutually imposed.

Beyond the three big players, there are other important participants. The Cayman Islands, which is an offshore financial center, holds $448 billion. Belgium and Luxembourg, two small European countries but with highly developed financial sectors, each own $411 billion. Then there are Canada, France, Ireland, Switzerland, and even Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong with significant amounts.

In total, the top 15 countries holding U.S. debt in the form of Treasury bonds have around $6 trillion. It’s the main way Washington finances its budget deficit. It’s interesting to see how global capital flows are concentrated in U.S. assets, especially during times of economic uncertainty.