Japan’s Assets Surpass Its GNP

Spiraling real estate prices last year have boosted Japan’s actual assets past its gross national product for the first time, the government said Tuesday.

The value of Japan’s actual assets--its land and structures--rose 20.2% to $3.04 trillion last year, while its GNP was $2.87 trillion, said Economic Planning Agency Director General Eiichi Nakao.

Last year’s soaring prices made land assets in Japan, a country roughly the size of California, worth 4.1 times as much as all the land in the United States, Kyodo News Service said. In 1986, Japanese land value was calculated at 2.5 times that of the United States.

Financial assets such as equity and deposits also rose, to $23.2 billion--a 15.6% increase over 1986, the agency said.

“Rapid rise in land prices and booming stock trading” fueled the explosion of assets, agency officials said.

Urban land prices have stabilized somewhat in recent months after a series of measures by the central and local governments to control the spiral, but prices continue to rise in fast-growing suburbs.