Payroll Announces May 2026 Wage Index "QPI"

We are pleased to announce the final QPI and the monthly QPI report for May 2026, concerning the new wage index "QPI (QUICK Payroll Wage Index)" jointly developed by Payroll Co., Ltd. and QUICK Corporation.

In the calculation results for May, the Disposable Income QPI showed a year-on-year increase of +3.70%, which, although slightly slower than the +4.42% of the previous month, continues to maintain a solid growth rate. This clearly exceeds the Consumer Price Index (as of April, +1.4%), suggesting that household real disposable income is remaining in positive territory. The background to this steady growth is thought to include a rebound effect from the low growth in disposable income during the spring of the previous year.

On the other hand, the Scheduled Salary QPI increased by +3.23% year-on-year, a clear expansion from the +2.88% of the previous month. This is presumed to be the result of wage increases from the spring labor negotiations being reflected in the base pay of a larger number of companies not only in April but also extending into May. Regarding trends in taxes and insurance premiums, the Income Tax QPI decreased to +2.95% year-on-year from +4.19% in the previous month, while the Social Insurance Premium QPI rose to +2.78% from +2.34% in the previous month. The impact of the newly introduced deduction for the "Child and Child-Care Support Levy (employee contribution: 0.115%)" starting this month is evident, and attention should be paid to the emerging structure where increases in nominal wages do not directly translate into increases in disposable income.

May 2026

April 2026

Scheduled Salary QPI

+3.23%

+2.88%

Disposable Income QPI

+3.70%

+4.42%

Local Tax QPI

+2.75%

+2.77%

Income Tax QPI

+2.95%

+4.19%

Social Insurance Premium QPI

+2.78%

+2.34%

*For details, please refer to the QPI Monthly Report (May 2026).

*Figures are rounded, so the difference from the previous month may not match the subtraction of the stated figures.

*Data used for analysis is utilized only for customers who have agreed to the contract, and is used in a way that does not identify individuals or specific companies.

The preliminary release of data for June 2026 is scheduled for Thursday, July 9, 2026, and the final release is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

About Payroll Co., Ltd.

Established on April 1, 1989. Since its founding, the company has provided payroll calculation business process outsourcing (BPO) primarily for enterprise clients, undertaking payroll processing for 279 companies and 1.23 million employees (as of the end of March 2026). Payroll's general-purpose payroll service "HR BPaaS" integrates proprietary cloud-based HR and payroll software with payroll BPO. Its features include high flexibility and scalability, accommodating complex payroll logic unique to each client while promoting standardization of common operations across all clients.

In Japan, where the working population is declining, Payroll aims to become a soft infrastructure company that handles the highly specialized operational tasks of HR departments, supporting an environment where HR departments can focus more on strategic tasks.