Japan’s real wages, which reflect price movements in wages per worker, have declined for 23 consecutive months.

The move makes it the longest decline on record.

The preliminary report of the monthly labor survey for February released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on April 8 showed that the average salary per person, including base pay and overtime pay, was 282,265 yen in February of this year, an increase of 1.8 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.

This marks 26 consecutive months of increase.

In contrast, real wages have continued to decline as wage increases have not kept pace with price increases, falling by 1.3 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.