People walk past an electronic stock board displaying Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo on Wednesday. [AP]
People walk past an electronic stock board displaying Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo on Wednesday. [AP]

Average household income in Japan rose at a record pace on the back of wage increases, yet more than half of households still report struggling with the cost of living amid persistently high prices.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released the results of its 2025 National Livelihood Survey on Wednesday, showing that average household income in 2024 rose 7.3 percent from the previous year to 5.752 million yen ($35,500, or about 52.9 million won). That marks the largest increase since the survey began in 1986, though it still falls short of the all-time high of 6.642 million yen recorded in 1994.

The median household income — the midpoint when all households are ranked by earnings — climbed from 4.1 million yen to 4.51 million yen. A Japanese government official attributed the gains to "the effects of wage increases being reflected in the data."

Despite the income growth, 55.4 percent of respondents said they find it "difficult to make ends meet," up 4.1 percentage points from the last comparable survey in 2022.

Sharp price increases are seen as weighing on household finances. Structural shifts in household composition were also notable: single-person households numbered about 19.477 million, accounting for 35.4 percent of all households — both figures record highs.

Average income for elderly households (3.361 million yen) and households raising children (8.573 million yen) also hit all-time highs. The Nikkei reported that greater labor-force participation by older workers and women had put the brakes on a long-term decline in household income, with earnings rising over the past two years.


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