TOKYO () – Large Japanese firms are likely to increase wages by about 5% in 2025, same as last year, the chair of a major business lobby said on Tuesday, while pledging efforts to spread the wage growth momentum to smaller firms.

“The pace of growth at big firms are likely to be similar to last year,” Takeshi Niinami, who chairs Keizai Doyukai, one of the country’s biggest business lobbies, said at a press conference.

“However, it is crucial for small and medium-size companies to achieve wage growth that exceeds a year earlier for three consecutive years,” Niinami said.

Japanese companies agreed to an average 5.1% wage hike in 2024, the biggest increase in three decades, according to Rengo, the nation’s largest union. Rengo is seeking wage hikes of at least 5% in 2025.