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Where Bond Yields Are Rising the Fastest
Key Takeaways
- The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield briefly hit 5.04% on September 15, its highest level since 2007.
- Yields have risen even faster elsewhere, led by South Korea (+178 basis points) and Japan (+145 basis points) over the past year.
- Higher yields are raising borrowing costs across the economy, with implications for mortgages, government finances, and equity markets.
Government bond yields are climbing across major economies as investors contend with higher oil prices, inflation pressures, and growing government borrowing needs.
This graphic compares 10-year government bond yields across major economies, based on Bloomberg market data as of September 15, 2026.
Borrowing Costs Reach Multi-Decade Highs
Long-term borrowing costs are reaching levels not seen in decades, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury briefly hitting 5.04% on September 15, its highest level since 2007.
Still, yields have risen faster in South Korea, Japan, Australia, and France than in the U.S. over the past year.
Japan’s rise marks a significant shift from the ultra-low-rate environment that defined its bond market for decades. Its 10-year yield has crossed 3.0%, reaching its highest level in 30 years as markets anticipate further monetary tightening from the Bank of Japan. Higher yields could also add pressure to Japan’s already large government debt burden.
The sell-off has also spread across Europe. Germany’s 10-year yield reached its highest level since 2009 on September 15, while U.K. borrowing costs have climbed above 5.0%.
How Higher Yields Affect the Economy
Government bond yields act as benchmarks for borrowing costs across the economy. As they rise, financing can become more expensive for mortgages, corporate debt, and other forms of credit.
Governments face pressure as well. Higher yields make refinancing debt more expensive at a time when public debt levels are already elevated across many advanced economies.
The implications also extend to stocks.
With 10-year Treasuries yielding around 5.0%, investors can earn higher returns from relatively safe government debt, raising the hurdle for riskier assets such as equities. Global fund managers now rank turmoil in bond markets as their leading market risk.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the top foreign holders of U.S. debt.
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Ranked: The Top 10 Sectors for Foreign Investment in 2026
Halfway through 2026, the communications sector has dominated global investment, powered by $130 billion in data center development.
Where Foreign Investment Is Flowing in 2026
Key Takeaways
- Communications is the top sector for global foreign direct investment, attracting $139 billion in H1 2026.
- Data centers accounted for more than 94% of communications investment.
- Renewable energy attracted $73 billion, roughly $29 billion more than coal, oil, and gas.
Global investors announced roughly $538 billion in cross-border greenfield investments in the first half of 2026, with AI infrastructure emerging as a major driver of where that capital is flowing.
This visualization ranks the top 10 sectors for global foreign direct investment (FDI) from January to June 2026, using data from fDi Intelligence.
Only greenfield FDI is included, meaning investment in new projects and facilities. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and intercompany loans are excluded.
Why Communications Leads Global Investment
Businesses pledged $139.3 billion in new capital to the communications sector in the first half of 2026. That is nearly as much as the next three largest sectors combined.
The driving force is data centers, which attracted more than $131 billion in pledged investment.
The table below ranks the world’s 10 largest greenfield FDI sectors in the first half of 2026.
Businesses are pouring billions into data centers to support the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom. This digital infrastructure provides the computing power required to train and run large AI models.
Nearly a quarter of pledged FDI in data centers comes from a single transaction. In May 2026, SoftBank committed more than $50 billion to data center investment in France. The Japanese tech firm plans to deliver 3.1 gigawatts of data center capacity in the country beginning in 2031.
This would reportedly be the largest investment of its kind in Europe.
Energy Investment Follows the Data Center Boom
The AI infrastructure buildout is also spilling into energy. Renewable energy and fossil fuels ranked second and third for greenfield FDI as new data centers increase demand for large, reliable sources of electricity.
Renewables attracted $73.3 billion in new capital investment. Solar power drew the most pledged FDI within the sector, followed by hydrogen and emerging clean technologies, as well as wind. Renewable investment has pulled back slightly in 2026, partly due to lower prioritization by U.S. firms. The U.S. is the world’s top FDI source.
Meanwhile, coal, oil, and gas attracted $44.7 billion in greenfield FDI despite turbulence in major hydrocarbon-producing regions such as the Persian Gulf. Roughly 75% of this investment came from a new natural gas plant in Ohio that is being developed to serve a nearby data center under construction.
How AI Runs Through the Rest of the Ranking
The influence of AI and digital infrastructure extends through much of the remainder of the top 10 sectors for global FDI.
Semiconductors, for example, attracted $38.8 billion in FDI, well below the $138 billion seen across all of 2025. One major pledge came in January 2026, when American chipmaker Micron committed to investing $24 billion in chip production in Singapore.
Companies also allocated $24.9 billion to transportation and warehousing, with a majority of this investment going toward freight and distribution.
Taken together, the ranking shows how the AI investment boom extends well beyond data centers themselves. Semiconductors, power generation, electronic components, industrial equipment, and software all appear among the top sectors, highlighting the scale of infrastructure being built around rising demand for computing power.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To see which developing countries are attracting the most FDI, check out The Best Emerging Markets to Invest In, According to fDi Intelligence on Voronoi.
Ranked: The World’s Largest Companies Outside the U.S.
Exactly half of the 30 companies with the highest revenues outside of the United States are based in China.
Ranked: The World’s Largest Companies Outside the U.S.
Key Takeaways
- Half of the world’s 30 largest non-American companies are based in China.
- State Grid has the highest annual revenue ($555 billion) of any non-U.S. company worldwide.
- China’s highest-revenue companies are overwhelmingly state-owned enterprises.
Some of the world’s largest businesses generate hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue, spanning energy, banking, construction, retail, and automobiles.
This graphic ranks the world’s 30 largest non-U.S. companies by annual revenue based on the latest data from the Fortune Global 500. Revenues span fiscal years ending on or before March 31, 2026.
China’s State-Owned Champions
At the turn of the 21st century, Chinese companies were far outclassed by their American, European, and Japanese counterparts. No Chinese firm ranked among the world’s top 10 companies by revenue in 2000.
A quarter-century later, that has changed. State Grid ($555 billion) is now the world’s third-largest company by annual revenue, behind only Amazon and Walmart. Other major firms, including China National Petroleum ($402 billion) and Sinopec ($364 billion), also rank among the world’s highest-revenue companies.
The table below ranks the world’s 30 largest non-U.S. companies by annual revenue.
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) dominate China’s presence in the ranking, particularly across energy, banking, and infrastructure.
Some notable exceptions come from the private sector. E-commerce rivals JD.com ($182 billion) and Alibaba ($144 billion) are among the relatively few privately controlled Chinese companies to rank alongside the country’s state-owned giants.
Energy Giants Dominate the Top Ranks
Energy companies are among the most prominent firms near the top of the ranking, particularly those operating in oil and natural gas.
Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil and gas company, operates some of the world’s largest oilfields and is more profitable than any other company outside the tech sector. Its $446 billion in annual revenue is second only to State Grid among non-American firms.
European giants such as Shell ($274 billion), BP ($193 billion), and TotalEnergies ($182 billion) also rank highly. These oil supermajors were among the dominant forces in the global petroleum industry throughout much of the late 20th century, before the rise of today’s major state-owned energy companies.
China’s Automakers Have Yet to Crack the Top Tier
Chinese companies rank among the world’s highest-revenue firms across energy, construction, retail, banking, and finance. The auto industry stands out as an exception.
Despite the rapid growth of Chinese automakers such as BYD and Great Wall Motor, they remain well below European and Japanese competitors by annual revenue. Volkswagen ($363 billion) and Toyota ($336 billion) rank fifth and sixth overall, respectively, while BMW generates $151 billion.
However, the sector is changing rapidly as electric vehicles gain market share. Chinese automakers’ cost advantages have created significant competitive pressure for established manufacturers such as Volkswagen.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To see how Chinese companies are maintaining their edge in the tech sector, check out Chinese Companies Are Dominating the Patent Race for Generative AI on Voronoi.
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