Japan's M2 money stock increased 1.7% year on year in October 2026, according to the Bank of Japan's official monthly money-stock statistics. The previous month's M2 change was 1.9%. The annual growth rate was therefore lower than the previous reporting month.
The separate M3 aggregate increased 0.9% over the same year-on-year period, compared with 1.1% in the preceding month. M3 is not interchangeable with M2: their monetary coverage differs. The 1.7% M2 growth rate must not be attributed to M3.
The Bank of Japan's broadly defined liquidity measure, labelled L, increased 4.1% from a year earlier. Its annual change was 4.3% in the previous month. L encompasses a wider collection of liquid assets than M3 and should not be presented as an M3 growth rate.
The bank also reports an M1 year-on-year change of -0.4% for October 2026. These are annual changes in average amounts outstanding and are different from both the nominal amounts in yen and the seasonally adjusted annualised month-to-month figures identified by (a) in other columns.
Money-stock growth provides information about liquidity conditions but does not, by itself, establish the future path of Japanese inflation, the yen or the Bank of Japan's next interest-rate decision.