Two Issues Concerning Elderly Assets: Asset Freezing Due to Dementia and Asset Concentration in Major Metropolitan Areas Through Inheritance

Analysis material presented by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank at Ministry of Finance Lunch Meeting on asset issues in super-aged society.

Key Points

1. Asset Freezing Due to Dementia

  • Scale of assets frozen due to dementia reaches 255 trillion yen
  • Elderly household assets average 46.88 million yen (including financial assets and real estate)
  • Frozen assets concentrated in three major metropolitan areas
  • Dementia prevalence: 43.9% for ages 85-89, 65.1% for 90-94, 83.7% for 95+

2. Inter-regional Asset Movement Through Inheritance

  • Asset outflow from regional areas to major metropolitan areas accelerating in "great inheritance era"
  • Some prefectures see one-quarter of household assets flowing out of region
  • Tokyo area shows exceptionally high potential for financial asset increases
  • Inter-regional asset movement through inheritance raises concerns about widening regional economic disparities

3. Social and Macroeconomic Impacts

  • Disruption to lives of individuals and families
  • Economic circulation stagnation due to fund retention
  • Reduced liquidity in used housing market
  • Declining regional economic vitality and widening disparities

This material provides detailed analysis of two critical issues emerging in super-aged society: household asset freezing and inter-regional asset movement through inheritance, warning of negative impacts on Japanese economy.

※ This summary was automatically generated by AI. Please refer to the original article for accuracy.