Global Bonds Sell Off in Late August 2026; US, Japanese and UK Yields Surge

The US 10-year Treasury yield rose as high as 4.816%, the highest since January 2025. Japan's 10-year government bond yield touched 3% for the first time in 30 years, and the 30-year Japanese government bond yield climbed to a record high of 4.18%. The UK 30-year government bond yield once again reached its highest level since 1998, while German and Australian 10-year government bond yields both reached their highest levels since 2011.

In the more than a decade after the 2008 global financial crisis, advanced economies long exhibited low growth, low inflation, low policy rates, low government bond yields and low term premia. By late August 2026, advanced-economy government bond yields had risen to historic highs not seen in decades. At the same time, advanced economies recorded large fiscal deficits rare in peacetime, cost-push inflation triggered by the energy crisis, and a shift in major central banks' monetary policy.