The money held by municipal governments across Japan after being left behind by people who died with no known relatives was estimated to be approximately 2.15 billion as of October 2021, according to a survey by the Administrative Evaluation Bureau of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
According to the survey, about 106,000 people died without their heirs from April 2018 to October 2021, and the amount of money now held by local governments after being left behind by such people grew by about 60% in that time.
The decline in birthrate and aging population will cause an increase in the number of people dying without relatives, which is expected to put a heavy burden on local governments regarding administrative procedures such as searching for heirs.
The Internal Affairs Ministry recommends that both the Justice, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Health and Labour Ministry make sure local governments know that they can withdraw money from the accounts of such people and use it to cover funeral expenses.