Japan's Labour Market: 2025 Review

• Spring wage negotiations. In RENGO's final survey, the average negotiated increase was 5.25% across 5,162 unions. This figure covers the unions in the survey; it is not the change in earnings for all workers. Source: RENGO.

• Actual earnings. In MHLW's final data, nominal total cash earnings rose 2.3%, while the real earnings index, deflated by the consumer price index excluding imputed rent, fell 1.3%. These figures cover establishments with five or more employees. Source: MHLW.

• Minimum wage. The fiscal 2025 regional revision set the weighted national average at ¥1,121 per hour, up ¥66. Effective dates varied by prefecture; some increases took effect in 2026. Source: MHLW.

• Unemployment and vacancies. Average unemployment in 2025 was 2.5%, unchanged from 2024. The average active job openings-to-applicants ratio through Hello Work declined from 1.25 to 1.22. This ratio covers Japan's public employment service. Sources: Statistics Bureau, MHLW.

• Foreign workers. Their number reached 2,571,037 at the end of October 2025, up 11.7% year on year. Source: MHLW.

Some final statistics for 2025 were published in 2026. This article was created by AI solely to aggregate information from the cited sources.