Japan’s High Net Worth and Ultra-High Net Worth Households Increase
On February 13, 2025, Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. released a survey of the wealthy in Japan.
According to the survey, the number of “high-net-worth” households with net financial assets of 100 million JPY or more and “ultra-high-net-worth” households with net financial assets of 500 million JPY or more has reached an estimated 1.65 million in 2023, a record high.
This survey, conducted every two years, estimates the number of households in Japan by asset size (based on net financial assets held) and the size of their assets, based on various statistics.
The survey divides households into five asset classes: “ultra-high-net-worth households” with net financial assets of 500 million JPY or more, “high-net-worth households” with net financial assets of 100 million JPY to 500 million JPY, “semi-net-worth households” with net financial assets of 50 million JPY to 100 million JPY, “upper-mass households” with net financial assets of 30 million JPY to 50 million JPY, and “mass households” with net financial assets of less than 30 million JPY.
In this year’s survey, the number of households in the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth groups combined increased by 11.3% from 148.5 in 2021, and the main reason for this increase is believed to be the rising value of stock and mutual fund assets. It is believed that some of the semi-affluent households have moved into the affluent category.
In addition, two types of households were featured as those that significantly increased their assets in this survey.
The first is households that have somehow moved from the semi-net-worth group to the high-net-worth group through the use of employee stock ownership plans, defined contribution pension plans, and NISA. These households are characterized by age in their late 40s to 50s, and their occupations are mainly company employees.
The other type is the urban-dwelling, large-company, dual-income household with annual household incomes in excess of 30 million JPY; they are said to have a bit more annual household income than the power couples represented by the DINKs, and many of them are families with children. This type of household tends to have a high propensity to spend on housing and consumer goods.
The percentages of each asset group (based on net financial assets held) based on the survey are as follows:
Ultra-high-net-worth HH (500 million JPY or more): approx. 0.2%
High-net-worth HH (100-500 million JPY): approx. 2.8%
Semi-net-worth HH (50-100 million JPY): approx. 7.6%
Upper-mass HH (30-50 million JPY): approx. 10.3%
Mass HH (less than 30 million JPY): approx. 79.4%
(source) https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/7bc36408d00049bf138217413e5b88d9d7fa45aa?page=1
