TOKYO (Reuters) - Hacker groups affiliated with North Korea have stolen $721 million worth of cryptocurrency assets from Japan since 2017, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday, citing a study by U.K. blockchain analysis provider Elliptic.

The amount is equal to 30% of the total of such losses globally, the Nikkei reported.

The report comes after Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement on Saturday that they support measures to counter growing threats from illicit activities by state actors, such as the theft of crypto-assets.

According to Elliptic, which conducted the analysis on behalf of the Japanese newspaper, North Korea has stolen a total of $2.3 billion in cryptocurrency from businesses between 2017 and 2022.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, Kiyoshi Takenaka; editing by Ed Osmond and Christina Fincher)