August Monthly Labour Survey: total cash earnings JPY 311,364, up 3.8%Average pay per worker rose 3.8% from a year ago
In the preliminary August results of the Monthly Labour Survey released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) on October 7, 2026 (Reiwa 8), total cash earnings for all employment types at establishments with five or more employees were JPY 311,364, up 3.8% from a year earlier. Total cash earnings deflated by the consumer price index (all items excluding imputed rent) rose 1.5%, the eighth consecutive month of increase.
Key points
- Total cash earnings (5 or more employees) were JPY 311,364, up 3.8%; the seventh straight month of growth of 3% or more
- Scheduled cash earnings were JPY 298,358, up 3.9%; contractual earnings were JPY 277,861, up 3.8%
- Special earnings were JPY 13,006, unchanged from the same month a year earlier
- Real wages (deflated by CPI excluding imputed rent) rose 1.5%, the eighth consecutive month of increase
- Deflated by the overall consumer price index, real wages rose 1.9%, the ninth consecutive month of increase
What to do in practice
- When reviewing your own pay scales, check the movement of wages in official statistics as a reference
- Organize material for explaining pay to employees, including the relationship with prices (real wages)
In a government survey of companies, the average pay per worker in August was about JPY 311,000, up 3.8% from a year ago. But prices have risen too, so when we compare what the money can actually buy (the "real" figure), the increase was 1.5%.
- Pay growth (nominal)
- 3.8%
- Price rise (excluding imputed rent for owned homes)
- 2.2%
- Real growth
- 1.5%
Points
- Average pay per worker is about JPY 311,000, which is 3.8% more than a year ago
- After subtracting the rise in prices, the increase is 1.5%
- Real pay has been higher than a year earlier for 8 months in a row
What the words mean
- Total cash earnings
- Basic pay plus allowances, bonuses and so on, added up before taxes and other deductions
- Real wages
- Pay compared by how much it can buy, after taking changes in prices into account
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW): MHLW Monthly Labour Survey, August 2026 (Reiwa 8) Preliminary Results
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW): MHLW Monthly Labour Survey, August Reiwa 8 Preliminary Results (press release)
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