Average wages per month among full-time workers Japan 2015-2024

The average monthly wage of full-time workers in Japan amounted to around 330,400 Japanese yen in 2024. This represented an increase of 3.8 percent compared to the previous year.

Japan’s gender pay gap

Japan’s gender pay gap remains one of the highest in the world. At 21.3 percent, the earnings gap between men and women in 2022 was almost twice as high as the OECD average. This is in part due to structural reasons, such as the fact that a larger share of female workers are in non-regular employment. In 2024, the average wage of women working full-time was 275,300 yen, compared to an average of 363,100 yen earned by male full-timers.

Minimum wages in Japan

Japan has a decentralized system that determines the minimum wage per hour by region and industry. In 2024, minimum wages were set for all prefectures and some industries in different prefectures. Tokyo was the prefecture with the highest hourly minimum wage at 1,163 yen, while Akita Prefecture had the lowest at 951 yen. In October 2024, the average minimum wage across all prefectures in Japan was raised to 1,055 yen per hour, up by 51 yen. The government aims to increase the average minimum wage to 1,500 yen by 2030.