Japan's real wages fall for 3rd straight year in fiscal 2024

TOKYO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan's monthly average real wages fell 0.5 percent in fiscal 2024, marking the third consecutive yearly decrease, government data showed Thursday.

The decline of inflation-adjusted wages was slower than the 2.2 percent fall in fiscal 2023, which was the biggest since fiscal 2014, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

In the fiscal year ended in March, real wages at workplaces with five or more employees increased year-on-year only when bonuses were paid in June, July, November and December.

In nominal terms, average monthly wages, including bonuses, increased 3.0 percent to 349,388 yen (about 2,400 U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2024, up for the fourth straight year and hitting the highest level in 33 years, according to the ministry.

But the pay growth continued to lag behind rising prices. Consumer prices, which include fresh food prices but not rent costs, that are used to calculate the pay data, grew 3.5 percent, exceeding 3 percent for the third consecutive year and outpacing the rise in nominal wages.

In March alone, real wages, a barometer of consumer purchasing power, fell 1.8 percent from the year before, revised up from a 2.1 percent decline in a preliminary report released earlier this month.