Japan Slips to No 3 Creditor Behind China and Germany
By Reuters | 25 May, 2026

Despite its net external assets rising 4.4% from 2024 to an all-time record, of $3.53 trillion (561.75 trillion yen) in 2025, Japan fell behind China and Germany among the world's top net creditor nations.

Japan fell behind China to rank as the world's third-largest net creditor in 2025, marking a further decline in global rankings despite its net external assets hitting an all-time record, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

Net external assets held by the Japanese government, businesses and individuals, rose 4.4% from a year earlier to 561.75 trillion yen ($3.53 trillion).

That marked the eighth straight year of growth, driven by Japanese companies' robust overseas investment, mergers and acquisitions, as well as valuation gains on foreign securities held by residents.

However, after losing the top spot to Germany the previous year for the first time in 34 years, Japan has now surrendered its position as the world's second-largest creditor to China, falling to third place in the global rankings.

Germany remained the world's top creditor with 675.5 trillion yen in net external assets, followed by China at 636.3 trillion yen, according to ministry data based on figures from the International Monetary Fund.

Both Germany and China have seen their net external assets bolstered by annual trade surpluses.

Japan, meanwhile, saw the growth of its net external assets contained partly because its external liabilities also swelled significantly.

This is due to the strong performance of the Japanese stock market, which led to a 62.2 trillion yen upward valuation of Japanese securities held by non-resident investors.

($1 = 158.9800 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki;Editing by Helen Popper)