Saving Behavior and the Asset Price "Bubble" in Japan: Analytical Studies

Abstract

Chart 2-1 shows Japan's national saving rate, both gross and net of depreciation, for the period 1975-93. Both of these measures indicate a negative trend through the first part of the 1980s, with levels in the early 1980s that are about 2 percentage points of GNP lower than those recorded at the beginning of the period. Since 1983, however, there has been a moderate increase in saving rates.Gross saving in Japan declined from about 33 percent of GNP in 1975 to 30 percent in 1983, before recovering beginning in the mid-1980s. Preliminary data for 1993 suggest that gross saving rebounded to 33 percent of Chart 2-1. Gross and Net Sources: Japan, Economic Planning Agency (EPA), Annual Report | on National Accounts (Tokyo, various issues); and IMF staff estimates.