As of July 22, 2025, the yield for a ten-year U.S. government bond was 4.38 percent, while the yield for a two-year bond was 3.88 percent. This represents an inverted yield curve, whereby bonds of longer maturities provide a lower yield, reflecting investors' expectations for a decline in long-term interest rates. Hence, making long-term debt holders open to more risk under the uncertainty around the condition of financial markets in the future. That markets are uncertain can be seen by considering both the short-term fluctuations, and the long-term downward trend, of the yields of U.S. government bonds from 2006 to 2021, before the treasury yield curve increased again significantly in the following years. What are government bonds? Government bonds, otherwise called ‘sovereign’ or ‘treasury’ bonds, are financial instruments used by governments to raise money for government spending. Investors give the government a certain amount of money (the ‘face value’), to be repaid at a specified time in the future (the ‘maturity date’). In addition, the government makes regular periodic interest payments (called ‘coupon payments’). Once initially issued, government bonds are tradable on financial markets, meaning their value can fluctuate over time (even though the underlying face value and coupon payments remain the same). Investors are attracted to government bonds as, provided the country in question has a stable economy and political system, they are a very safe investment. Accordingly, in periods of economic turmoil, investors may be willing to accept a negative overall return in order to have a safe haven for their money. For example, once the market value is compared to the total received from remaining interest payments and the face value, investors have been willing to accept a negative return on two-year German government bonds between 2014 and 2021. Conversely, if the underlying economy and political structures are weak, investors demand a higher return to compensate for the higher risk they take on. Consequently, the return on bonds in emerging markets like Brazil are consistently higher than that of the United States (and other developed economies). Inverted yield curves When investors are worried about the financial future, it can lead to what is called an ‘inverted yield curve’. An inverted yield curve is where investors pay more for short term bonds than long term, indicating they do not have confidence in long-term financial conditions. Historically, the yield curve has historically inverted before each of the last five U.S. recessions. The last U.S. yield curve inversion occurred at several brief points in 2019 – a trend which continued until the Federal Reserve cut interest rates several times over that year. However, the ultimate trigger for the next recession was the unpredicted, exogenous shock of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, showing how such informal indicators may be grounded just as much in coincidence as causation.

The yield on US 30 Year Bond Yield eased to 4.95% on September 2, 2025, marking a 0.01 percentage point decrease from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has edged up by 0.16 points and is 0.83 points higher than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. United States 30 Year Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Interest Rates: Long-Term Government Bond Yields: 10-Year: Main (Including Benchmark) for United States (IRLTLT01USM156N) from Apr 1953 to Jun 2025 about long-term, 10-year, bonds, yield, government, interest rate, interest, rate, and USA.

The yield on US 10 Year Note Bond Yield rose to 4.23% on August 29, 2025, marking a 0.02 percentage point increase from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has fallen by 0.15 points, though it remains 0.33 points higher than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. US 10 Year Treasury Bond Note Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

As of December 30, 2024, ** economies reported a negative value for their ten year minus two year government bond yield spread: Ukraine with a negative spread of ***** percent; Turkey, with a negative spread of 1332 percent; Nigeria with **** percent; and Russia with **** percent. At this time, almost all long-term debt for major economies was generating positive yields, with only the most stable European countries seeing smaller values. Why is an inverted yield curve important? Often called an inverted yield curve or negative yield curve, a situation where short term debt has a higher yield than long term debt is considered a main indicator of an impending recession. Essentially, this situation reflects an underlying belief among a majority of investors that short term interest rates are about to fall, with the lowering of interest rates being the orthodox fiscal response to a recession. Therefore, investors purchase safe government debt at today's higher interest rate, driving down the yield on long term debt. In the United States, an inverted yield curve for an extended period preceded (almost) all recent recessions. The exception to this is the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – however, the U.S. ten minus two year spread still came very close to negative territory in mid-2019. Bond yields and the coronavirus pandemic The onset of the coronavirus saw stock markets around the world crash in March 2020. This had an effect on bond markets, with the yield of both long term government debt and short term government debt falling dramatically at this time – reaching negative territory in many countries. With stock values collapsing, many investors placed their money in government debt – which guarantees both a regular interest payment and stable underlying value - in contrast to falling share prices. This led to many investors paying an amount for bonds on the market that was higher than the overall return for the duration of the bond (which is what is signified by a negative yield). However, the calculus is that the small loss taken on stable bonds is less that the losses likely to occur on the market. Moreover, if conditions continue to deteriorate, the bonds may be sold on at an even higher price, partly offsetting the losses from the negative yield.

As of April 16, 2025, French government debt securities with a maturity date of over six years returned higher yields than *** year before. On the other hand, the yield for a maturity shorter than *** year was lower than *** year before. The lowest yield was found on securities with maturities of two years, which returned **** percent. Conversely, 30-year French government bonds recorded a positive yield of **** percent. Positive bond yields mean that investors receive more money at the bond's maturity than the original purchase price of the bond, owing to low demand for the bond on money or capital markets.

Graph and download economic data for 10-Year High Quality Market (HQM) Corporate Bond Par Yield (HQMCB10YRP) from Jan 1984 to Jul 2025 about 10-year, bonds, corporate, yield, interest rate, interest, rate, and USA.

As of December 2024, all United Kingdom government debt securities were returning positive yields, regardless of maturity. This places the yield of both UK short term bonds and long term bonds above that of major countries like Germany, France and Japan, but lower than the United States. What are government bonds? Government bonds are debt instruments where a certain amount of money is given to the issuer, in exchange for regular payments of interest over a fixed period. At the end of this period the issuer then returns the amount in full. Bonds differ from a regular loan through how they can be traded on financial markets once issued. This ability to trade bonds makes it more complex to measure the return investors receive from bonds, as the price they buy a bond for on the market may differ from the price the same bond was initially issued at. The yield is therefore calculated as what investors can expect to receive based on current market prices paid for the bond, not the value it was issued at. In total, UK government debt amounted to over 2.4 trillion British pounds in 2023 – with the majority being comprised of different types of UK government bonds. Why are inverted yield curves important? UK government bond yields over recent years have taken on a typical shape, with short term bonds having a lower yield than bonds with a maturity of 10 to 20 years. The higher yield of longer-term bonds compensates investors for the higher level of uncertainty in the future. However, if investors are sufficiently worried about both a short term economic decline, and low long term growth, they may prefer to purchase short term bonds in order to secure assets with regular interest payments in the here and now (as opposed to shares, which can lose a lot of value in a short time). This can lead to an inverted yield curve, where shorter term debt has a higher yield. Inverted yield curves are generally seen as a reliable indicator of a recession, with inverted yields occurring before most recent U.S. recessions. The major exception to this is the recession from the coronavirus pandemic – but even then, U.S. yield curves came perilously close to being inverted in mid-2019.

Graph and download economic data for Interest Rates: Long-Term Government Bond Yields: 10-Year: Main (Including Benchmark) for Poland (IRLTLT01PLM156N) from Jan 2001 to Jul 2025 about Poland, long-term, 10-year, bonds, yield, government, interest rate, interest, and rate.

The yield on Japan 10Y Bond Yield rose to 1.63% on September 1, 2025, marking a 0.02 percentage point increase from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has edged up by 0.11 points and is 0.71 points higher than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. Japan 10 Year Government Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Interest Rates: Long-Term Government Bond Yields: 10-Year: Main (Including Benchmark) for United States (IRLTLT01USQ156N) from Q2 1953 to Q2 2025 about long-term, 10-year, bonds, yield, government, interest rate, interest, rate, and USA.

The yield on India 10Y Bond Yield eased to 6.59% on September 1, 2025, marking a 0.02 percentage point decrease from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has edged up by 0.26 points, though it remains 0.29 points lower than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. India 10-Year Government Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

The yield on China 10Y Bond Yield eased to 1.78% on September 1, 2025, marking a 0.01 percentage point decrease from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has edged up by 0.06 points, though it remains 0.38 points lower than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. China 10-Year Government Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

At the end of 2024, the yield for a 30-year U.S. Treasury bond was **** percent, slightly higher than the yields for bonds with short-term maturities. Bonds of longer maturities generally have higher yields as a reward for the uncertainty about the condition of financial markets in the future.

The yield on Germany 10Y Bond Yield eased to 2.69% on August 27, 2025, marking a 0.03 percentage point decrease from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has edged up by 0.01 points and is 0.44 points higher than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. Germany 10-Year Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on August of 2025.

The yield on Indonesia 10Y Bond Yield rose to 6.34% on September 1, 2025, marking a 0.01 percentage point increase from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has fallen by 0.14 points and is 0.31 points lower than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. Indonesia 10-Year Government Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

The yield on France 10Y Bond Yield rose to 3.58% on September 2, 2025, marking a 0.05 percentage point increase from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has edged up by 0.30 points and is 0.58 points higher than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. France 10-Year Government Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

The yield on Mexico 10Y Bond Yield eased to 8.77% on September 1, 2025, marking a 0.09 percentage point decrease from the previous session. Over the past month, the yield has fallen by 0.32 points and is 0.95 points lower than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. Mexico 10-Year Government Bond Yield - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on September of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 3-Year Constant Maturity, Quoted on an Investment Basis (DGS3) from 1962-01-02 to 2025-08-28 about 3-year, maturity, Treasury, interest rate, interest, rate, and USA.

Treasury yield curves or treasury zero-coupon yield curve are derived from treasury benchmark curves. The main interest in the market to estimate treasury yield curves is to provide insights into the evolution of market expectations.

The zero coupon rate or zero rate, the most common form of interest rate, is the yield implied by the different between a zero coupon bond's current purchase price and the value it pays at maturity. A given zero rate applies only to a single point in the future and, as such, can only be used to discount cash flows occurring on this date. Zero rates can have different compoundings: continuously, semi-annually, annually, etc. The continuously compounded zero rate has the simplest expression and computation mathematically.