The net international investment position (NIIP) is the difference between the external financial assets and liabilities of a country.[1] External debt of a country includes government debt and private debt. External assets publicly and privately held by a country's legal residents are also taken into account when calculating NIIP.[2] Commodities and currencies tend to follow a cyclical pattern of significant valuation changes, which is also reflected in NIIP.
The International investment position (IIP) of a country is a financial statement of the value and composition of its external financial assets and liabilities. A positive NIIP value indicates that a nation is a creditor nation, while a negative value indicates that it is a debtor nation.