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This data set covers borrowing and investment activities in debt capital markets, capturing debt instruments designed to be traded in financial markets such as treasury bills, commercial paper, negotiable certificates of deposit, bonds, debentures and asset-backed securities. These statistics are harmonised with the recommendations of the Handbook on securities statistics (HSS) and distinguish between debt securities issued and held in international and domestic markets.

The data set is available at quarterly frequency for over 50 economies starting as early as 1946. It benefited from close collaboration with national central banks and national authorities, also as part of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative.

Total debt securities are issued by residents in all markets. Domestic (international) debt securities are issued in (outside) the local market of the country where the borrower resides, regardless of the currency denomination of the security. As valuation methods differ across countries, some amounts are presented at market value and others at nominal or face value.

Metadata

Seasonal adjustment
Non seasonally adjusted
Frequencies
Quarterly
Annual
Contact
BIS statistics
Units
Years
US dollar
Domestic currency (incl. conv. to current ccy made using a fix parity)
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Source
National data
BIS calculations
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Methodology

Enhancing the BIS government bond statistics

Bilyana Bogdanova, Tracy Chan, Kristina Micic and Goetz von Peter
This statistical feature presents a new data set on long-term debt securities issued by central and general governments in domestic and foreign currencies. It combines national aggregates with data on international issuance and BIS estimates, for improved coverage across all markets of issue. The annual series cover 54 countries, including 28 advanced economies and 26 emerging market economies (EMEs) from the early 2000s in most cases. These series reveal that the issuance of government bonds accelerated over the past decade and surged with the onset of the pandemic in 2020. With major EMEs increasingly tapping bond markets in their domestic currency, the foreign currency share in EME government bonds has continued to decline.

Enhancements to the BIS debt securities statistics

Branimir Gruić and Philip Wooldridge
The BIS has revised its debt securities statistics to enhance their comparability across different markets. This feature by Branimir Gruić and Philip Wooldridge (BIS) sketches the main changes and the reasoning behind them. International issues have been redefined as debt securities issued outside the market where the borrower resides, and statistics combining international and domestic issues are being released for the first time. The revised statistics highlight the growing size and internationalisation of bond markets.

Research and publications

Domestic financial markets and offshore bond financing

Firms in emerging market economies markedly increased their issuance of bonds in offshore markets after the Great Financial Crisis. By contrast, increases in offshore bond issuance by firms in advanced economies were more muted. An empirical analysis suggests that the less developed state of financial markets in emerging economies may have encouraged firms there to step up their offshore bond issuance as external financing costs fell. Firms appear to use the proceeds of offshore bonds to boost their holdings of short-term assets. This may ...

Dollar credit to emerging market economies

We profile the US dollar debt incurred by borrowers in a dozen prominent emerging market economies (EMEs). These countries account for the bulk of total US dollar debt owed by EMEs. We measure the dollar borrowing of non-banks resident in these economies as well as that of their affiliates offshore, and relate these items to commonly used debt measures. We also discuss the limitations of our data. These data fail to ...

Glossary

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Related data sets

International debt securities (BIS-compiled)
International debt securities (BIS-compiled)

Tracks outstanding securities issued outside the local market of the country where the borrower resides