After more than three decades of leadership, Japan has lost the title of the world's largest creditor. For the first time since 1990, this status has passed to Germany, which managed to increase its external assets despite economic turbulence on a global scale. This is reported by the Japanese agency Kyodo News, citing updated financial statistics.

At the end of 2024, Japan's net external assets reached a record level of about 3.7 trillion US dollars, which is 12.9% more than the previous year. The main driver of this growth was the sharp weakening of the yen, which increased the value of assets held in foreign currency. However, the overall growth was not enough to maintain first place.

In contrast, Germany showed impressive results: the volume of its external assets increased to 3.61 trillion US dollars, allowing it to overtake Japan. Germany’s growth was based on a large current account surplus, a characteristic of the country’s strong export sector. As a result, Germany ranked first in the list of the world’s largest creditors for the first time in modern history.

Japan, however, continues to demonstrate positive dynamics. For the seventh year in a row, the country has been increasing its net foreign assets. The total value of Japanese assets abroad reached US$10.51 trillion (+11.4% year-on-year). This was facilitated by large direct investments in the United States, which were carried out by Japanese financial institutions and trading corporations. At the same time, external liabilities also increased to US$7.13 trillion (+10.7%).

China came in third place, whose net foreign assets at the end of 2024 were estimated at 516.28 trillion yen, or US$3.27 trillion (at the IMF exchange rate of 157.89 yen per dollar). Although the country is behind Japan and Germany, it maintains a consistently high position among global creditors.

Meanwhile, the United States remains the world’s largest debtor. Its negative external balance is $26.02 trillion, indicating that the US’s liabilities to other countries far exceed the amount of foreign assets it holds. This situation has persisted for many years, resulting from the structural deficit in the US current account and large-scale public borrowing.