Japan net external assets hit record in 2022 as biggest creditor

Japan’s net balance of external assets hit a record 418.63 trillion yen ($3 trillion) in 2022, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier, inflated by the yen’s sharp depreciation, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The nation remained the world’s biggest creditor for the 32nd straight year in yen terms, ahead of Germany that had net external assets of 389.05 trillion yen and China with 335.78 trillion yen, according to data from the International Monetary Fund and other institutions.

External assets held by the Japanese government, companies and individual investors stood at 1,338.24 trillion yen, the...