One in four listed Japanese companies raises the average annual salary by 300 thousand yen.. Report

Inflation drives a movement among companies to increase wages to secure workers. In fiscal year 2022, one in four listed companies in Japan raised annual salaries by more than 300 thousand yen.

The average annual salary of 3,800 listed companies in Japan in fiscal year 2022 (April 2022 – March 2023) increased by an annual percentage of 140,000 yen, or 2.2%, to 6.4 million yen. This was about 2 million yen higher than the average annual general salary in Japan, which is 4,430,000 yen. Both the average salary in listed companies and the rate of increase have been the highest ever over the past twenty years. The average rate was 6.1 million yen, which is the first time it has exceeded the 6 million yen barrier.

The average salary of listed companies increased by 68.9% from the previous year, which indicates the spread of momentum for a steady salary increase. One in four listed companies (25.3%) increased their salaries by 300,000 yen or more, and half (52.1%) raised salaries by more than 100,000 yen. It is believed that the motivation for wage increases due to rising prices and labor shortages is behind this sharp rise from fiscal year 2022 onwards.

The most common range of average salaries at 27.7% (1059 companies), was 5 million yen up to 6 million yen, followed by 24.5% in the range of 6 million yen to 7 million yen, and 19.4% pay between 4 million and 5 million. There was a 20-year record of 134 companies that paid an average salary of more than 10 million yen. This included general trading companies, merger and acquisition intermediaries, media companies and real estate agents. Salaries in about 90% of all listed companies were higher than the national average.