If you want to increase your annual income, in addition to personal abilities and work performance, choosing the right industry may also be the key.
Japan's latest salary survey shows that the average annual salary of salaried employees in private enterprises in 2025 will be 4.87 million yen (approximately NT$970,000), but there is a clear gap in the probability of high salaries in different industries. Among them, the proportion of employees in the electricity, gas, heating and water supply industries with an annual income of more than 8 million yen (approximately NT$1.6 million) accounted for 47.2%, nearly half; the finance and insurance industry and the information and communication industry ranked second and third respectively. In comparison, the proportion of the accommodation and catering industry that reaches the same income threshold is only 2.8%, a gap of 44.4 percentage points.
Japanese media reported that according to the "Results of the Current Salary Situation of Private Enterprises in 2025" released by the Japanese Internal Revenue Service, there are obvious differences in the salary structures of various industries. The proportion of employees with an annual income of more than 8 million yen not only reflects the salary gap between industries, but also presents high-income opportunities in different work fields.
In the electricity, gas, heating and water supply industry, which ranked first, among the 181,000 salaried employees, 47.2% had an annual income of more than 8 million yen, and the proportion of annual income exceeding 10 million yen (approximately NT$2 million) also reached 29.9%, nearly 30%. This type of industry that supports infrastructure construction has high profitability and a relatively prominent proportion of high-paying employees.
Ranked second is the financial and insurance industry. Among the 1.295 million salaried employees, 31.7% have an annual income of more than 8 million yen, and 20% have an annual income of more than 10 million yen. This is equivalent to 1 in every 5 people crossing the tens of millions of yen annual salary threshold, with an average annual salary of 7.26 million yen (approximately NT$1.45 million).
The information and communication industry ranks third. Among the 2.256 million salaried employees, 27.9% have an annual income of more than 8 million yen, and 14.5% have an annual income of more than 10 million yen. The average annual salary is 6.82 million yen (approximately NT$1.36 million). The survey shows that the proportion of highly paid employees in this industry is also prominent, reflecting the demand for professional skills in the information technology field.
Next is the academic research, professional and technical services, education and learning support industry, with 19.7% of those with annual income exceeding 8 million yen, and 11% with annual income exceeding 10 million yen. The construction industry ranked fifth, with 18.9% and 10.2% respectively.
The manufacturing industry ranks sixth. Among the 9.256 million salaried employees, 18.8% have an annual income of more than 8 million yen, and 9.4% have an annual income of more than 10 million yen. The real estate and property leasing industry ranked 7th, accounting for 15.4%; the comprehensive service industry ranked 8th, accounting for 11.4%; the wholesale and retail industry and the transportation and postal industry ranked 9th and 10th respectively, accounting for 8.7% and 8.5%.
The service industry ranked 11th, accounting for 7% of those with annual income exceeding 8 million yen; agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and mining ranked 12th, accounting for 6.7%; the medical and welfare industry ranked 13th, accounting for 5.3%. The accommodation and catering industry ranks last, with the lowest proportion of high-income employees among all industries.
Only 2.8% of employees in the accommodation and catering industry earn more than 8 million yen per year, and only 1.2% earn more than 10 million yen. The average annual salary is 2.76 million yen (approximately NT$550,000), which is not only far lower than that of electricity, gas and other industries, but also lower than the average of 4.87 million yen for all salaried employees.
As for why there is such a large wage gap between industries, the report pointed out that labor productivity and profit structure are important factors. Industries such as electricity, gas, finance, and information communications have high entry barriers and can provide high value-added services through information systems and related technologies, giving companies the opportunity to create revenue and profits with relatively few manpower, and then invest more resources to pay for personnel costs.
In comparison, the accommodation, catering and medical welfare industries involve a large amount of direct service work and are labor-intensive industries. When business scale expands, more manpower is often required, making it more difficult to increase per capita salary.
