Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics, postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, estimate the final cost of the Games at 1,423.8 billion yen, roughly double what was expected when the International Olympic Committee called them. awarded in 2013.
Organizing committee officials, who met on Tuesday before the body disbanded at the end of the month, released the final numbers, which were boosted by the pandemic but were in a record range long before that.
The cost equivalent is difficult to estimate due to recent fluctuations in the exchange rate between the dollar and the Japanese yen. When the Olympics opened a year ago, US$1 was worth 110 yen. On Monday, US$1 equaled 135 yen, the highest level of the dollar against the yen in about 25 years.
Impact of the pandemic
The fall in the value of the yen means that the cost of the Olympics expressed in dollars is now around 10.5 billion US dollars (13.6 billion Canadian dollars). A year ago, the price was around US$13 billion (C$16.8 billion).
Organizers estimated official costs when the Games closed a year ago at US$15.4 billion (C$19.9 billion).
Four months later, organizers said costs had fallen to US$13.6 billion (C$17.59 billion). They explained that there was a big saving because no spectators were allowed to attend, which reduced costs for security, venue maintenance, etc.
However, organizers lost at least US$800 million (C$1.03 billion) in revenue due to no ticket sales, which the Tokyo Metropolitan Government had to cover.
A 2020 Oxford University study indicated that the Tokyo Games were the most expensive Olympics ever.