Value of international debt capital market deals by currency 2026

Value of deals on international debt capital markets in 2026, by currency

The US dollar dominates the international debt capital markets, accounting for about 55 percent of deal value in 2026, worth nearly 1 trillion dollars in the most recent quarter. The euro is a distant second at around 28 percent, with the British pound third at about 6 percent. Currency choice is one of the most important decisions an international borrower makes, since it determines the pool of investors they can reach, the interest rate they pay and the foreign-exchange risk they take on, which is why the breakdown of issuance by currency is so closely watched. The dollar share of about 55 percent means that more than half of all the money raised on the international bond market in 2026 was borrowed in a single currency, a concentration that gives US monetary policy unusual reach over global financial conditions.

Together the dollar and the euro make up more than 80 percent of all international bond issuance, leaving every other currency to share the remainder. The breakdown sits alongside our international debt capital market deal value overview and our global financial markets coverage.

The dollar dominates: in 2026 about 990 billion dollars of international debt deals were in US dollars, against 500 billion in euros and just over 100 billion in British pounds, in the latest quarter.

The dominance of the dollar reflects the depth of its bond market and its status as the world reserve currency, a role our leading investment banks and central banks overviews explore.

A note on the data. The figures show the approximate value and share of international debt capital market deals by currency in 2026, for the most recent available quarter, based on ICMA, BIS and LSEG data. Figures are approximate. The international debt capital market is distinct from domestic bond markets, capturing only debt sold outside the borrower home market, which is why its currency mix is dominated by a few global currencies rather than by the many local currencies used at home. All figures are approximate and the latest reading reflects the most recent available quarter as of mid-2026, so the precise shares may shift as new data come in, though the broad dominance of the dollar is well established. The currency of issuance is recorded as the currency in which the bond is denominated, regardless of where the borrower is based, which is why a German company raising dollars or a Japanese bank raising euros both show up under the currency they chose rather than their home one.

Debt Capital Market Deals by Currency

The table lists the value and share of international debt capital market deals by currency for the most recent quarter of 2026. It shows the dollar far ahead, the euro second, and a long tail of smaller currencies. Reading down the value column shows the dollar far ahead of every rival, while the share column makes the concentration explicit, with the dollar and euro together accounting for more than four-fifths of all international debt issuance. Because the figures are for a single recent quarter, they capture the current balance between currencies rather than a long-run average, but the dollar lead is so large and so consistent that the ranking rarely changes from quarter to quarter.

Which Currency Dominates Debt Issuance?

The US dollar is the most-used currency in the international debt capital markets, accounting for about 55 percent of all deal value in 2026. The euro follows at around 28 percent, the British pound at 6 percent, and the Japanese yen at about 3 percent. The dominance of a single currency in such a vital market is unusual, and it gives the dollar an outsized influence over global borrowing costs, since conditions in the US bond market ripple out to issuers all over the world who fund themselves in dollars. The roughly 55 percent dollar share has held remarkably steady in recent quarters even as the total size of the market has swung, suggesting that the dollar position at the top of the league table is now firmly entrenched.

The concentration is striking, with just two currencies, the dollar and the euro, accounting for more than four-fifths of all international bond issuance, a dominance our leading financial centres coverage helps explain.

Two currencies rule: the dollar makes up about 55 percent of international debt deals and the euro 28 percent, leaving the pound, yen and others to share the remaining 17 percent.

The remaining currencies, from the Swiss franc and Canadian dollar to the Australian dollar and Chinese yuan, each account for only a few percent, underlining how heavily the market relies on a small number of major currencies. The long tail of minor currencies, while individually small, collectively reflects the global reach of the bond market, with issuers in Switzerland, Canada, Australia and China all able to tap international investors in their own currencies when conditions allow. Taken together, the currency shares paint a picture of a market built around the dollar and the euro, with a handful of smaller currencies filling in the gaps and no serious challenger to the dominance of the top two on the horizon. The heavy reliance on the dollar and euro also shapes how shocks travel through the system, since a sharp move in dollar or euro funding conditions is felt by borrowers far beyond the United States or the euro area who depend on those currencies for their financing.

Is the Dollar Gaining on the Euro?

The dollar has gained ground on the euro over the period. Its share of international debt issuance rose from about 48 percent in 2017 to 55 percent in 2026, while the euro share slipped from 35 percent to 28 percent and the pound eased from 8 to 6 percent. The competition between the dollar and the euro for the role of the world main funding currency has run for more than two decades, and the recent data show the dollar pulling clearly ahead after a period in the 2000s when the euro briefly came close to matching it. The dollar climb from 48 to 55 percent over the period came largely at the euro expense, with the European currency share falling by a similar amount, a near mirror-image that captures the direct competition between the two for international borrowers.

The shift reflects the strength of the US economy and the deep, liquid dollar bond market, which has drawn issuers from around the world, a trend our developed and emerging share price index coverage sets in context.

The dollar pulls ahead: the dollar share rose from about 48 percent in 2017 to 55 percent in 2026, while the euro slipped from 35 to 28 percent and the pound from 8 to 6 percent.

The dollar gains have not been a steady march but a wavelike pattern, with the currency share rising and falling over the decades, though the recent direction has been firmly upward at the expense of the euro and the pound. The wavelike pattern in the dollar share, rising and falling over the decades rather than moving in a straight line, cautions against reading too much into any single year, though the recent trend has been unmistakably in the dollar favour.

Why Does the Dollar Lead?

The dollar leads because its bond market is the deepest and most liquid in the world, and because the dollar is the global reserve currency. Borrowers in some 125 economies issue international bonds in dollars, about twice the number that issue in euros or yen. The dollar advantage is self-reinforcing, because the more borrowers issue in dollars, the deeper and more liquid the market becomes, which in turn attracts still more issuers, a virtuous circle that has entrenched the dollar at the centre of global debt. The breadth of dollar usage is striking, with borrowers in some 125 economies tapping the dollar market, roughly twice the number that issue in euros or yen, a reach no other currency comes close to matching.

Issuing in dollars gives borrowers access to the largest pool of investors and often the lowest costs, even when they have no dollar revenues, a pull our financial markets in the US coverage describes.

Rising to 55 percent: the US dollar share of international debt issuance climbed steadily over the period, gaining about 7 points since 2017, mostly at the euro expense.

The dollar share of foreign-currency bonds has risen by about 20 percentage points since 2007, mainly at the expense of the euro, reflecting how central the dollar has become to global borrowing despite occasional talk of de-dollarisation. The persistence of dollar dominance, despite repeated predictions of its decline and efforts by China and others to promote alternatives, is one of the most remarkable features of the modern financial system and shows little sign of reversing. For borrowers and policymakers alike, the entrenched dominance of the dollar is a double-edged feature, offering deep and reliable funding in good times but also transmitting US financial conditions to the whole world, for better or worse. For all the discussion of a multipolar currency world, the data show the dollar entrenched at the centre of international debt, its share rising rather than falling, a reality that any borrower planning a major bond sale has to reckon with first.

How Currency Shares Have Shifted

Over the period the dollar share rose about 7 points, while the euro fell 7 points and the pound slipped 2 points. The yen also edged lower, and a handful of smaller currencies gained a little ground between them. The gradual reshuffling of currency shares may look modest from year to year, but compounded over the period it has meaningfully shifted the balance of global debt toward the dollar and away from the euro, with lasting consequences for borrowers and investors alike. The dollar 7-point gain and the euro 7-point loss are almost exactly offsetting, a clean illustration of how the two currencies compete directly for the same pool of international issuance, with the dollar steadily winning that contest.

The clear winner has been the dollar, which has steadily pulled issuers away from the euro, a shift our federal funds rate coverage links to the relative strength of US monetary policy and yields.

Dollar up, euro down: between 2017 and 2026 the dollar share rose about 7 points while the euro fell 7 and the pound slipped 2, a near mirror-image shift.

The euro decline reflects both the relative weakness of European growth and the deeper, more liquid dollar market, while the pound slip mirrors the diminished global role of sterling since the United Kingdom left the European Union. The shifts also reflect changing economic fortunes, with the dollar gains mirroring the strength of the US economy and the relative weakness of the euro area and the United Kingdom over much of the period.

Each Currency, 2017 vs 2026

Comparing 2017 with 2026 shows the dollar rising from 48 to 55 percent of issuance and the euro falling from 35 to 28 percent. The pound and yen both edged lower, confirming the steady concentration toward the dollar. The before-and-after comparison strips away the year-to-year noise and reveals the underlying trend, confirming that the dollar gains have been broad and consistent rather than the result of a single unusual year. The 2017 to 2026 comparison captures the steady erosion of the euro position, with the European currency losing ground in most years even as it remained comfortably the second most-used currency on the international market.

The before-and-after picture makes the dollar gains clear, with the currency extending its lead in every recent year, a dominance our global stock markets by country coverage sets against the wider markets.

The dollar extends its lead: from 2017 to 2026 the dollar rose from 48 to 55 percent of issuance and the euro fell from 35 to 28 percent, with the pound and yen also lower.

The shift, though gradual, has been consistent, leaving the dollar more dominant in international debt at the end of the period than at the start, even as the total size of the market grew substantially. The consistency of the dollar gains across the period suggests a structural rather than a cyclical shift, with the currency steadily cementing its position as the default choice for international borrowers.

The Currency Mix by Year

The currency mix has stayed broadly stable in shape even as the market has grown. In 2017 dollar deals were worth about 2.4 trillion dollars over the year, rising to 3.1 trillion by 2025, while euro deals held closer to 1.6 trillion. The stacked view shows both the growth of the market and the shifting balance within it, making clear that even as the euro and pound have grown in absolute terms, they have steadily lost ground to the dollar as a share of the whole. The annual stacked totals also show the impact of the wider market cycle, with every currency dipping in the lean year of 2022 before recovering strongly to record or near-record levels by 2025.

The growth in total issuance has lifted every currency in absolute terms, but the dollar has grown fastest, widening its lead, a pattern our biggest companies by market value coverage links to corporate borrowing.

Growing, but dollar-led: annual dollar issuance rose from about 2.4 trillion in 2017 to 3.1 trillion in 2025, growing faster than the euro and widening the dollar lead.

The stacked picture shows that while the euro and pound have grown in dollar terms, they have shrunk as a share, squeezed by the relentless rise of dollar issuance across the period. The squeeze on the euro and pound as a share of the market, even as they grow in absolute terms, is a reminder that relative position can decline even amid absolute growth, a distinction that matters greatly in the contest between currencies.

Dollar Issuance by Year

Dollar-denominated issuance has climbed over the period, from about 2.4 trillion dollars in 2017 to 3.1 trillion in 2025. It dipped in the 2022 rate shock, like the rest of the market, but recovered to records as borrowing conditions eased. Tracking dollar issuance year by year isolates the currency from the rest of the market, showing a steady climb interrupted only by the 2022 rate shock, which hit dollar borrowing just as it hit every other currency before the recovery resumed. The climb in dollar issuance from 2.4 to over 3 trillion dollars a year reflects both the growth of the overall market and the dollar rising share of it, a combination that has made the dollar bond market larger than ever.

The steady rise in dollar issuance reflects both the growth of the overall market and the dollar increasing share of it, a double tailwind our largest asset managers coverage connects to global capital flows.

Up to 3 trillion: dollar-denominated issuance climbed from about 2.4 trillion dollars in 2017 to 3.1 trillion in 2025, dipping only in the 2022 rate shock.

The dip in 2022 and the strong recovery since mirror the wider debt market, showing that the dollar, for all its dominance, is still subject to the same interest-rate cycle that drives all bond issuance up and down. The resilience of dollar issuance through the rate cycle confirms that, while the dollar is not immune to the forces that drive all borrowing, its dominance gives it a stability that smaller funding currencies cannot match.

Total Deals and the Dollar Share

The dollar share tends to rise as the overall market grows, because much of the new issuance is in dollars. As total deal value climbed to records in 2024 and 2025, the dollar share edged up to about 55 percent. The tendency of the dollar share to rise with the market is one of the clearest signs of its dominance, since it means that the dollar not only leads in normal times but captures an outsized slice of any surge in global borrowing. The pattern was especially clear in 2024 and 2025, when record total issuance coincided with the dollar share edging up to about 55 percent, showing how the dollar tends to benefit most when borrowing booms.

The link is not mechanical, but the dollar deep market means it captures a large share of any surge in borrowing, a dynamic our short-term interest rates worldwide coverage connects to the rate cycle.

The dollar gains in booms: as total deal value climbed to records in 2024 and 2025, the dollar share edged up to about 55 percent, capturing the largest slice of the surge.

The result is that the dollar both leads the market and tends to gain share when the market is strong, reinforcing its dominance in the international debt capital markets over time. This self-reinforcing dynamic helps explain why the dollar share has trended upward over the period, since each surge in global borrowing has tended to flow disproportionately into the dollar market.

Dollar Deals Since 2024

Dollar-denominated deals have grown strongly since 2024, rising from about 0.88 trillion dollars in the first quarter of 2024 to nearly 1 trillion by the first quarter of 2026. The dollar has led the recovery in international debt issuance. The strength of dollar issuance in the recent recovery underlines how central the currency remains to global finance, with borrowers around the world turning first to the dollar market when conditions improve and the cost of borrowing falls. The rise in dollar deals from about 0.88 to nearly 1 trillion dollars a quarter over just two years is a measure of how powerfully the recovery in borrowing has flowed into the dollar market in particular.

The recovery has been driven by falling US interest rates and heavy refinancing, drawing issuers back to the dollar market, a revival our leading fund groups coverage frames.

Leading the recovery: dollar deals grew from about 0.88 trillion in the first quarter of 2024 to nearly 1 trillion by the first quarter of 2026, leading the rebound.

Most striking is how the dollar has captured the largest share of the recovery, extending its lead over the euro just as the overall market has climbed back to record levels. The dollar leadership of the recovery has further widened its lead over the euro, leaving it more dominant in international debt at the latest reading than at any earlier point in the period. Whether the dollar can sustain its rising share will depend on the relative strength of the US economy and the appeal of alternatives, but for now the currency dominance of international debt issuance looks more secure than ever.

Debt by Currency in Numbers

A few numbers capture the picture. The dollar accounts for about 55 percent of international debt capital market deals in 2026, the euro 28 percent, and the pound 6 percent, with the dollar worth nearly 1 trillion dollars in the most recent quarter. These figures together make the currency breakdown one of the clearest measures of which currencies dominate global finance, capturing in a single set of shares the central role of the dollar and the secondary but still significant role of the euro.

The currency split matters because it shows how the world borrows and which currencies dominate global finance, a picture our primary credit rate coverage sets against the rate backdrop.

Together these figures show a market overwhelmingly led by the dollar, with the euro a clear second and every other currency a minor player, a concentration that has deepened over the period. The numbers leave little doubt about the structure of the market, with the dollar the clear leader, the euro a solid second, and a scattering of smaller currencies filling the gaps, a hierarchy that has held firm and even strengthened over the period.

Debt Capital Markets by Currency: The Big Picture

Taken together, the value of international debt capital market deals by currency in 2026 confirms the dominance of the US dollar in global borrowing, a position underpinned by the depth of its market and its reserve-currency role, themes our gold as an investment coverage sets against other stores of value.

Whether the dollar extends its lead or the euro and other currencies claw back share depends on relative growth, yields and geopolitics, but the dollar remains the currency of choice for international debt, alongside the assets in our crypto market and largest ETFs overviews.

Frequently Asked Questions: Debt Deals by Currency