securities either issued outside the respective currency area or issued within the currency area and targeted at the international financial markets), the euro account for a global share of 47 percent compared with a share of 37 percent for the US dollar. The euro's share has risen by 18 percentage points since January 1999.
The high share of the international market compared to the size of the national segment reflects the high relative importance of the international financial markets for the euro (see slide 13). The establishment of well functioning European government bond markets is an important contribution to the European single market supporting an efficient allocation of resources and economic growth.