On March 23rd, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB) announced the results of their survey on financial assets and real estate estimated to be owned by elderly people with dementia in Japan.

SMTB’s Research Department made its own estimates based on the Bank of Japan's Flow of Funds Statistics and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' National Household Account Structure Survey as well as other data.

Japan has 36.19 million people aged 65 and over, and the percentage of the total population (aging rate) is 28.8%, the highest in the world. 

The prevalence of dementia in Japan is 2.33%, the highest among the 35 developed countries in the OECD.

The total amount of financial assets and real estate, which includes housing and land, that are believed to be held by the elderly with dementia to be 252.1 trillion yen in 2020, and will increase to 314.2 trillion yen in 2030 and 345 trillion yen by 2040.

In 2020, financial assets owned were estimated at 172.2 trillion yen, 8.6% of total financial assets held by households.  The figure is expected to reach 214.1 trillion yen (11.0% of total household financial assets) by 2030 and 237.3 trillion yen (12.9% of total household financial assets) by 2040 according to SMTB.

Focusing on real estate, the figure was estimated to be 79.9 trillion yen (7.4% of total household real estate holdings) in 2020, and is expected to be 100.1 trillion yen (9.4%) by 2030 and 107.7 trillion yen (10.8%) by 2040 according to SMTB. 

By prefecture, Tokyo had the largest share of the total amount of each asset estimated to be held by the elderly with dementia and its percentage of the national total.  Financial assets accounted for 18.9 trillion yen (10.9% of the national total), and real estate 25.4 trillion yen (30.6% of the national total). 

After Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture accounted for 8.9 trillion yen (10.7% of the national total), Aichi Prefecture for 5.1 trillion yen (6.1%), Osaka Prefecture for 5 trillion yen (6.0%), and Saitama Prefecture for 4.7 trillion yen (5.7%) in the real estate category. 

The three major metropolitan areas (Greater Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya) combined accounted for 72.1% of the total estimate.

Further Reading

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Survey Press Release (Japanese only; March, 2022)