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What is global liquidity?

Global liquidity is the pool of money and credit available to the world’s financial system: the cash central banks create, plus the lending that banks and markets build on top of it. Our free index puts it at US$194.85 trillion (week to 2 November 2026).

Where it comes from

Central banks. When a central bank buys bonds (quantitative easing) it pays with newly created reserves, adding money directly to the system. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the People’s Bank of China and the Bank of England are the big five. Together their liquidity is about US$21.68 trillion in our index.

Private credit and collateral. Banks, dealers and funds lend to each other against collateral, mostly government bonds. The more high-quality collateral there is, the more credit can be built on it, so government debt matters too. G7 and China government debt securities come to about US$75.58 trillion.

The dollar. Most cross-border borrowing is in US dollars. A stronger dollar makes that debt harder to service and shrinks the dollar value of other countries’ liquidity, so global liquidity measured in dollars tends to fall when the dollar rises.

What moves it

Central bank balance sheets: QE adds, quantitative tightening (QT) drains. See how QT drains liquidity.
Government borrowing, which creates the collateral markets run on.
In the US, cash moving into or out of the Treasury’s account at the Fed and the reverse repo facility. See the Fed’s liquidity plumbing.
The dollar and exchange rates.

Why markets watch it

Over long periods, assets such as equities, Bitcoin and gold have tended to rise when global liquidity is growing and struggle when it shrinks, because more money and cheaper credit raise demand for assets. The link is loose and can lag by weeks or months, so it’s context, not a forecast. See global liquidity and Bitcoin and global liquidity and stocks.

Where it stands now

Our Global Liquidity Index is US$194.85 trillion for the week to 2 November 2026: up 0.40% over 4 weeks and up 5.1% on a year earlier. How it’s built.

Questions

Is global liquidity the same as money supply (M2)?

No. M2 counts US cash and deposits held by households and firms. Global liquidity is about the funding available to financial markets worldwide: central bank money plus the credit built on collateral such as government bonds.

Who measures global liquidity?

The BIS publishes global liquidity indicators on cross-border credit, some research firms publish their own indexes, and Liquidity Dashboard publishes a free weekly Global Liquidity Index built from public data.

Is global liquidity rising now?

Our index is up 0.40% over the last 4 weeks and up 5.1% over the last year (week to 2 November 2026).

Follow it every week. The Global Liquidity Index is free. Pro adds 112 charts behind it, a weekly note on what’s driving it and an email when its momentum turns. Free for 10 days.

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General information only, not financial advice. Data can be delayed, revised or wrong. Sources and credits.