How large is the global bond market?
In 2022, the global bond market totaled $133 trillion. As one of the world's largest capital markets, debt securities have grown sevenfold over the last 40 years. Fueling this growth are government and corporate debt sales across major economies and emerging markets.
In 2022, the global bond market totaled $133 trillion.
Bonds and bank loans form what is known as the credit market. The global credit market in aggregate is about three times the size of the global equity market. Bank loans are not securities under the Securities and Exchange Act, but bonds typically are and are therefore more highly regulated.
The bond market is by far the largest securities market in the world. In 2022, the global bond market totalled USD 133 trillion compared to USD 122 trillion equity market capitalisation.
Global debt reached a staggering $307 trillion in Q3 2023, with a big increase across the board in both mature markets (U.S., Japan, France, and the UK) and emerging markets (China, India, Brazil, and Mexico).
With a daily turnover often seen of over $3 trillion, the forex market has no equal in the world of international finance. For example, the size of the forex market in terms of turnover is considered to be ten times the size of the bond market and fifty times the size of the equity market.
The debt market, which includes all bonds and other debt instruments, is significantly larger than the equity market. This is because governments and companies often issue more debt than equity to finance their operations.
Bond market size vs stock market size
In fact, the bond market actually has a much higher market capitalisation than that of the stock market.
A global bond, sometimes referred to as a Eurobond, is a type of bond issued and traded outside the country where the currency of the bond is denominated. Global bonds may have a fixed or floating rate with maturities ranging from one to 30 years.
Who are the big players in the bond market?
This area of the market is mostly made up of governments, banks, and corporations. Banks are also key issuers in the bond market and they can range from local banks up to supranational banks such as the European Investment Bank, which issues debt in the bond market.
- Argentina. Government Bond Interest Rate: 40.45%(One year) ...
- Egypt. Government Bond Interest Rate: 26.8% (Six months) ...
- Turkey. Government Bond Interest Rate: 21.7% (Two year) ...
- Kenya. ...
- Brazil. ...
- Namibia. ...
- India. ...
- Bahrain.
The bond market is one of the largest markets that trade in all major currencies. For investors that require certainty of cash flows, bonds provide an easier way of managing their income so that they can match their obligations. The bond issuer can never elect to redeem the bond prior to the maturity date.
Debt as a share of GDP has risen to about the same level as in the United States, while in dollar terms China's total debt ($47.5 trillion) is still markedly below that of the United States (close to $70 trillion). As for non-financial corporate debt, China's 28 percent share is the largest in the world.
- Japan. Japan held $1.15 trillion in Treasury securities as of January 2024, beating out China as the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt. ...
- China. China gets a lot of attention for holding a big chunk of the U.S. government's debt. ...
- The United Kingdom. ...
- Luxembourg. ...
- Canada.
The sudden rise in inflation has pushed global debt to new highs. In the second quarter of 2023, global debt was recorded as $307 trillion, largely driven by developed countries like the US, Japan, the UK and France.
U.S. treasury securities major foreign holders 2024
As of January 2024, Japan held United States treasury securities totaling about 1.15 trillion U.S. dollars.
Global sustainable bond market value 2022, by category and country. In 2022, the country that issued the highest value of sustainable bonds - either from the government or organizations domiciled in that country - was the United States, with over 104 billion U.S. dollars of fixed income debt issued.
The Hydrogen bonds are the weakest as they aren't really bonds but just forces of attraction to the dipoles. On a hydrogen atom which are permanent and bonded to two atoms which are highly electronegative in nature. They are just electrostatic and not an actual physical bond which makes them very easy to simply bypass.
Still, the bond market overall does tend to look further forward than the stock market and it is a better measure of the flow of institutional money, rather than money controlled by individual traders and investors like you and me.
Is the bond market better than the stock market?
U.S. Treasury bonds are generally more stable than stocks in the short term, but this lower risk typically translates to lower returns, as noted above.
The falling dollar also means that foreign bonds become more attractive. With other countries having stronger economies, foreign bonds offer a way to hedge against the falling dollar. Unlike more volatile stocks, bonds also provide a stable source of income.
The market is 3 times larger today than it was back in 2000, growing by $34.7 trillion from $16.1T in 2000 to $50.9T at the end of 2020. A little over half of this growth can be attributed directly to the growth in the US Treasury market, which grew $18T from $2.9T back in 2000 to $20.9T today.
So, if the bond market declines or crashes, your investment account will likely feel it in some way. This can be especially concerning for investors with portfolios heavily weighted toward bonds, such as those in or near retirement.
The secondary bond market is the marketplace where investors can buy and sell bonds. A key difference compared to the primary market is that proceeds from the sale of bonds go to the counterparty, which could be an investor or a dealer, whereas in the primary market, money from investors goes directly to the issuer.
