Individual shareholders of companies listed on Japan's four stock exchanges increased by 4.62 million from the previous year to a record 74.45 million in fiscal 2023, a Tokyo Stock Exchange survey showed Tuesday.
The increase in the year that ended in March reflected stock price rises and a decrease in investment units due to stock splits by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and others, which made it easier for individuals to buy shares.
The number of individual shareholders marked a 10th straight year of increase.
Some 2.47 million individuals newly became shareholders of companies that carried out stock splits, including 1.06 million at NTT, which implemented a 25-for-1 split, and about 110,000 each at Tokyo Disney Resort operator Oriental Land and trading house Mitsubishi Corp.
The new Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) tax exemption program for small-lot investors, which started in January, also drove the increase in individual investors.
Shares worth ¥170.48 trillion ($1.05 trillion) were held by individuals, up about 30% from the previous year, also the highest figure on record.
Shares held by foreign entities, which led high stock prices, rose about 40% to ¥320.47 trillion. They owned 31.8% of listed shares in terms of value.