The outstanding balance of financial assets held by Japanese households marked the sharpest fall on record — by 5.2 percent — in the July-September period from a year earlier to ¥1.467 quadrillion due mainly to declining stock prices, the Bank of Japan said Dec. 16.

The fall, which came for the fourth straight quarter, was the steepest since the central bank started the survey in 1979. The total amount of assets was the smallest since September 2005, when it stood at ¥1.461 quadrillion, the BOJ said in a preliminary report on its quarterly survey of the flow of funds accounts.

The result showed shareholders have suffered from the global financial turmoil, and that Japanese, widely seen as among the most risk-averse people in the world, have been withdrawing money from capital markets and shifting funds to relatively secure bank deposits.