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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)
Collection indicators
End of period
Source
National data
BIS calculations
Next release date
Last release date
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Methodology

International finance through the lens of BIS statistics: bond markets, domestic and international

Tracy Chan, Goetz von Peter and Philip Wooldridge
The period since the Great Financial Crisis has seen a shift in debt financing from loans to bonds. This article provides an overview of how the BIS debt securities statistics can be used to examine the size and structure of bond financing, including its sectoral and currency composition. Government issuance drove the growth of bond markets, but private sector activity fuelled their broader development, including access for a more diverse mix of borrowers. Governments stepped up their borrowing mainly in their domestic currency. Meanwhile, private sector borrowers continued to tap bond markets in foreign currency, mainly US dollars.

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

Overcoming original sin: insights from a new dataset

Mert Onen
, Hyun Song Shin
 and Goetz von Peter
This paper introduces a new dataset on emerging market sovereign bonds, distinguishing between the currency of denomination and the residence of investors. Our dataset is on long-term government bonds and provides a more complete coverage of bonds issued in domestic markets. We document several salient trends. While a preponderance of foreign currency bonds is associated with greater holdings by foreign investors, the correlation is weak at best.

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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