Japan retail bond sales hit record as yields rise

Bloomberg Markets reported that Japanese retail investors purchased a record volume of government bonds in the first half of 2025. This development provides the government with a new source of fiscal funding while it manages rising borrowing costs.

Sales of Japanese government bonds to retail customers increased 84% year on year, reaching a total of ¥5.14 trillion, or roughly $33 billion, during the period from April through September. The rise in demand is linked to higher yields on domestic debt, which made government bonds a more attractive option for individual savers. The expansion in retail purchases presents policymakers with a method to finance spending by lowering the volume of bonds sold to institutional market participants.