Government Considers Delaying Minimum Wage Target to Early 2030s

The government is considering delaying its goal of raising Japan's average minimum hourly wage to ¥1,500 until the first half of the 2030s, people familiar with the matter said Friday. One idea under discussion would move the deadline from the end of the decade to the earliest possible time in the first half of the 2030s.

The revised schedule is expected to appear in a national growth strategy to be issued by the administration soon.

Japan's average minimum hourly wage for fiscal 2025, which ended in March, stood at ¥1,121. That figure represented an increase of ¥66, or 6.3 percent, from the previous year. Calculations indicate that wages would need to rise more than 7 percent annually to reach the ¥1,500 target by the end of the 2020s.

Business groups have said the required pace would place a heavy burden on small and midsize companies. In April, the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other lobbies called for a review of the timetable, stating that the current goal does not match employer realities.