Bloomberg: China Surpasses Japan in Net Overseas Assets Ranking

Bloomberg (Japanese version), May 26 report: Japan's net overseas assets—calculated by subtracting liabilities from overseas assets held by government, enterprises, and individuals—will be overtaken by China by the end of 2025, ranking third globally, behind Germany and China.

In 2024, Japan ranked second. The primary reason was the expansion of debt driven by a surge in domestic stock market prices.

According to a statement released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on the 26th, net foreign assets increased by 4.4% year-on-year to reach 56.175 trillion yen, marking the seventh consecutive year setting a historical high. Despite the increase in foreign assets due to a rise in Japanese overseas investments, foreign investments in Japan are counted as liabilities, which contributed to rising stock prices and growing external liabilities.

External assets rose by 8.5% year-on-year to 180.5634 trillion yen. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, the United States maintains high investment levels across countries and in financial and insurance sectors. External liabilities increased by 10.5% year-on-year to 124.38838 trillion yen. In 2025, the Nikkei average stock price rose by 26%, breaking through the 50,000-yen mark.

In terms of net overseas assets, Germany once again ranked first (67.55374 trillion yen), followed by China—which ranked third in 2024—with 63.63391 trillion yen, surpassing Japan in 2025 to take second place. All three countries saw their assets increase by over 1 trillion yen compared to the previous year, supported by current account surpluses.

The country with the largest global net external debt is the United States, with a net external liability of 430.40363 trillion yen.

For comparison, the exchange rate at the end of 2025 was calculated based on data published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with 1 USD = 155.98 JPY, and the yen weakened by 11.7% against the euro.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866210066948105/

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