Japan's national wealth, or net assets, at the end of 2002 shrank by 3.4 percent from a year earlier to 2.79 quadrillion yen, marking the fifth consecutive year of decline, the Cabinet Office said Thursday in a report for fiscal 2002.

The country's net assets -- defined as assets held by individuals, businesses and the government minus their debts at home and abroad -- were 21.2 percent smaller than the peak level seen at the end of 1990.

The decline in national wealth reflects falling land prices amid the prolonged deflation, the report says.