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MacroSnaps16 August 2026
No. 36

The world's spare savings keep flowing to one place: America.

US
−$900bn
China
+$420bn
Germany
+$290bn
Japan
+$190bn
UK
−$110bn

Current account balance, latest year. Billions of dollars (+ surplus, − deficit).

Why this is happening
  • Countries like China, Germany and Japan save and produce far more than they spend at home, so they send the surplus abroad.
  • The US does the opposite: it consumes and invests more than it makes, and covers the gap by selling the world its assets.
  • Deep US markets and the dollar make America the natural place to park all that money, so the savings pile in.
The take

America gets to live beyond its means because the world keeps lending it the difference. It is a remarkable deal, right up until the day the world would rather keep its savings at home.

Source: IMF (2026)
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The underlying data

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