Payroll Announces June 2026 Wage Indicator 'QPI'

Payroll Co., Ltd. and QUICK Corp. jointly announce the final figures for June 2026 and the monthly QPI report for the QUICK Payroll Wage Index (QPI), a new wage indicator they co-developed.

In June, the disposable income QPI rose 3.38% year-on-year. Although slightly slower than the previous month's 3.70%, it continues to show robust growth in the 3% range. This clearly exceeds the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which stood at +1.5% as of May, suggesting that households' real take-home pay is continuing to grow positively. June is the month when many companies distribute regular bonuses, and both base salary increases and higher bonuses are believed to have contributed to the rise in income.

Meanwhile, the regular wage QPI rose 3.42% year-on-year, expanding further from the previous month's 3.23%. This suggests that the high-level wage increases agreed upon during this year's spring labor negotiations have broadly permeated and become established in base salaries, including companies where the adjustments are being reflected with a delay. Regarding taxes and social insurance premiums, the local tax QPI surged 5.13% year-on-year (previous month: +2.75%) due to the switch to new fiscal year tax rates applied from June's payroll. Additionally, the social insurance premium QPI rose to +3.48% (previous month: +2.78%) amid an upward trend, influenced by the withholding of the 'Child and Childcare Support Fund (insured person's contribution: 0.115%)', which began deductions last month and is now also deducted from bonuses. Although increased tax and social insurance burdens are evident, overall, the growth in wages and bonuses exceeds these increases, supporting take-home pay.

June 2026

May 2026

Regular Wage QPI

+3.42%

+3.23%

Disposable Income QPI

+3.38%

+3.70%

Local Tax QPI

+5.13%

+2.75%

Income Tax QPI

+4.74%

+2.95%

Social Insurance Premium QPI

+3.48%

+2.78%

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

* Figures are rounded, so differences from the previous month may not match the arithmetic difference of the published figures.

* Data used for analysis is limited to customers who have agreed under contract, and is utilized in a manner that prevents identification of individuals or specific companies.

The flash estimate for July 2026 data is scheduled to be released on August 12, 2026 (Wednesday), and the final figures on August 17, 2026 (Monday).

About Payroll Co., Ltd.

Established on April 1, 1989. Since its founding, the company has primarily provided BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) services for payroll processing to enterprise clients, currently handling payroll for 279 companies and 1.23 million employees (as of March 2026). Payroll's generic payroll service, 'HR BPaaS (HR BaaS)', integrates proprietary cloud-based HR and payroll software with payroll BPO services. It features high flexibility and scalability by accommodating complex, client-specific payroll logic while promoting standardization of common processes across all clients.

In Japan, where the labor force is shrinking, Payroll serves as a soft infrastructure company handling highly specialized operational tasks for HR departments, enabling them to focus on more strategic initiatives.