New figures show nearly 14% of all houses in Japan are empty – but this real estate glut is attracting growing interest from foreigners

As the declining population continues to impact Japan’s society and economy, the number of vacant houses has topped nine million – enough to accommodate the entire population of Australia at three people per dwelling.

Government figures released on Tuesday show the number of empty houses, known as akiya, as of October 2023 was up by more than half a million since the previous survey in 2018.