5 great bond market facts: $95 trillion, 130% of GDP + more

So you have some context for the news we post about climate and green bonds, here are some amazing facts about the bond market.

1. Global bonds outstanding in 2010 = $95 trillion. That's a big market. Global equity market capitalization in 2010 = $55 trillion

2. The bond market equals 130% of global GDP, up from only 80% 10 years ago. Equities used to be the bigger of the two, but the great financial crash has seen those positions reversed.

(All facts are courtesy of CityUK's new report on the bond market. They're a great source of data!)

3. Government bonds make up 57% of the total, financial institution bonds 33%, and the rest are classified as corporate.

4. Bonds issued in 2010 = $6.05 trillion, in some 30,000 separate deals. By comparison, the GDP of France in 2009 was a bit over $2.6 trillion.

5. A third of bonds are issued for sale on international markets; the rest are domestic (e.g. a Sterling bond sold in the UK).

+ Bonus fact: there are many different types of bonds, with cute names like Bulldog Bonds, Matador BondsKangaroo BondsDim Sum Bonds , Samurai Bonds and Sushi Bonds.

And then there's a Eurobond, which, most confusingly, is NOT a Euro denominated bond, but denominated in a currency not native to the country where it is issued. Go figure.

 

Sources: "Bond Markets", published by CityUK July 2011 as part of its Financial Market Series; www.investopedia.com; and www.wikipedia.com.