Japan’s real wages fell 0.2% in 2024, down for 3rd straight year
Japan’s real wages fell 0.2 percent from a year earlier in 2024, marking the third consecutive year of decline, as pay hikes failed to keep pace with rising prices, government data showed Wednesday.
Nominal wages, or the average total monthly cash earnings per worker including base and overtime pay, increased 2.9 percent last year, rising for the fourth straight year, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
But consumer prices grew 3.2 percent in the reporting year, decelerating from a 3.8 percent rise in the previous year but weighing on inflation-adjusted wages.
In December, real wages at workplaces with five or more employees climbed 0.6 percent from the year before, rising for the second consecutive month, driven by increased winter bonuses.
Nominal wages increased 4.8 percent to 619,580 yen ($4,010), up for the 36th straight month, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
Special cash earnings, largely reflecting bonuses, expanded 6.8 percent from the previous year to 333,918 yen.
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