Estimated economic loss of Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan 2021, by scenario

According to estimates dating from January 2021, the Japanese government and other entities involved in hosting the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games would lose approximately 640 billion Japanese yen if the event was postponed. This has happened already. In case the Olympic Games were canceled altogether, the loss would amount to an estimated 4.5 trillion Japanese yen.

 Hitherto expenses and planned revenue

The fifth version of the budget announced in December 2020 by the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG), a total of approximately 1.64 trillion Japanese yen was expected to be spent for the preparation of the postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games. Venue-related expenses comprised the lion’s share of the expenditure, as the organizers built 19 new venues (10 of which were temporary) and renovated 18 others.
Disregarding expected economic ripple effects, Japan’s planned expenditure for the games exceeded its foreseen revenue.  

 What is the public opinion on the hosting of the Olympic Games before and after the advent of COVID-19? 

  The people of Japan had high expectations regarding the Olympic Games, as can be testified by the share of persons looking forward to the Olympic Games at the end of December 2019. After the postponement and especially due to an increase in COVID-19 cases during 2020, former high expectations turned into apprehensions as the share of people in Japan who believed that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics would not be held became the majority during the summer months of 2020. Opinion surveys dating from the first months of 2021 showed that an increasing share of the Japanese population were favoring another postponement or cancellation.