The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Tokyo
16:57 JST, May 23, 2024
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s inflation-adjusted real wages fell 2.2% in fiscal 2023 from the previous year, the sharpest decline in nine years due to rising prices, the Labor Ministry said Thursday.
Real wages marked the second consecutive year of decline in the fiscal year that ended last March, as wage increases failed to keep pace with inflation. The 2.2% drop was the biggest since fiscal 2014, when real wages fell 2.9% as a consumption tax hike pushed up prices.
Nominal monthly wages rose 1.3% to an average of ¥332,533, an increase for three years in a row. The consumer price index excluding imputed rent, a measure used to calculate real wages, climbed 3.5%, a second straight year of gains of more than 3%, as a weaker yen and higher crude oil prices had driven up prices for a wide variety of products.
On a nominal basis, regular wages, including basic salary, increased by 1.3%, while overtime and other non-regular wages decreased by 0.3%. Special remuneration including bonuses increased by 1.6%.
Total nominal wages for full-time workers averaged ¥438,696, an increase of 1.7%. The average for part-time workers rose 2.4% to ¥105,989.
