TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's real wages fell 0.2 percent from a year earlier in 2024, marking the third consecutive year of decline, as pay hikes that grew at the fastest pace in 33 years failed to keep pace with rising prices, government data showed Wednesday.

Nominal wages, or the average total monthly earnings per worker including base and overtime pay, increased 2.9 percent to 348,182 yen ($2,300) last year, expanding for the fourth straight year, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.

But consumer prices outpaced wage growth with a 3.2 percent rise in the reporting year, although the pace decelerated from a 3.8 percent increase in 2023.

By month, real wages at workplaces with five or more employees increased year-on-year only when bonuses were paid in June, July, November and December, despite the government's push to achieve wage growth exceeding inflation.

Excluding bonuses and nonscheduled payments, average wages climbed 2.1 percent and special cash earnings, largely reflecting bonuses, expanded 6.9 percent, the ministry said in a preliminary report.

Meanwhile, real wages at workplaces with 30 people or more inched up 0.1 percent in 2024, rising for the first time in two years, according to the ministry.

In December, real wages, a barometer of consumer purchasing power, climbed 0.6 percent from the year before.

Nominal wages increased 4.8 percent to 619,580 yen, up for the 36th straight month, with special cash earnings, including winter bonuses, expanding 6.8 percent from the previous year to 333,918 yen.