Assets held by dementia sufferers in Japan top 143 trillion Yen

From NHK World

October 17th 2018

A new report shows financial assets of people with senile dementia in Japan have topped 143 trillion yen, or over 1.27 trillion dollars, as of March this year.

The finding is in a report by the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute and based on government surveys on the percentage of dementia sufferers in the population as well as household savings.

The report also says that the amount of such assets is expected to top 1.78 trillion dollars by fiscal 2030 due to the aging population.

The health ministry estimates that there are more than 5 million elderly people with dementia in the country. This means that one in every 7 people aged 65 or older is suffering from the mental disorder.

There are an increasing number of reports where people cannot use assets they have saved for old age due to dementia. In some cases family members cannot withdraw the deposits of elderly people as banks require the confirmation of their willingness to do so.