A new report by Open For Business suggests that a lack of LGBTQ+-inclusive laws and policies has become a massive economic burden for Japan, costing the nation somewhere between ¥6.04 and 16.42 trillion (or $37.3 and 101.5 billion) per year.
These costs are fueled by lost earnings from the LGBTQ+ wage gap, as well as “the excess burden of depression, suicide and self-harm, cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS,” the report explained.
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“These are not hypothetical future losses,” the authors emphasized. “They represent costs that Japan’s economy, employers and public services are absorbing today.” The report says the numbers should be especially alarming given that Japan’s population is expected to fall to 87 million by 2070, compared to 125 million in 2020. On top of that, it is already experiencing a contracting population of those of working age.
“In this environment, Japan cannot afford to lose workers, skills or productivity through preventable ill-health, discrimination or exclusion,” the report said, adding that “inclusion can play a pivotal role in protecting Japan’s competitive position.”
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The authors also pointed out that the country is ripe for progressive policy change since public opinion on LGBTQ+ people has improved tremendously, leading to “a growing gap between Japan’s social and corporate progress.”
According to Equaldex, Japan has not legalized same-sex marriage, has no hate crime protections for LGBTQ+ people, and does not ban conversion therapy. Employment discrimination protections vary by region, but there is no national law.
The Open for Business report pointed to another report, the Nijiiro 2026 Report, which found that more than half of Japanese workplaces have no LGBTQ+ protections in place.
“Public attitudes and many leading companies have moved considerably, but national frameworks and everyday workplace experience have not yet caught up,” Open for Business CEO Ken Janssens told the Washington Blade. “That creates both a challenge and an opportunity.”
Janssens added, “The country ranks 14th globally for talent appeal but 55th for talent readiness, according to the report. In that context, Japan simply does not have talent to waste. Every worker who is less healthy, less productive, pushed into lower-paid work, or unable to participate fully because of discrimination represents a cost that becomes harder to absorb as the labor force shrinks.”
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