Japan Diet Pay 4.2x Average Wage, Top of 10 Countries; US 2x

Diet members earn 4.2 times the average wage, the highest of 10 countries

The table shows the annual taxable pay of an ordinary member of each country's lower house (in Japan, the House of Representatives). For Japan, the term-end allowance, which works as a bonus, is included. As the yardstick we use each country's average wage (2025, full-time equivalent) compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development[OECD]. Because pay is divided by the wage in the same national currency, exchange rates do not affect the ratio.

*Amounts published by each country's parliament or pay-setting body as of November 2026. Japan: salary of ¥1.294 million a month × 12 months + term-end allowance (¥3.19 million in both December 2025 and June 2026). South Korea excludes the tax-free legislative activity and special activity allowances. Yen conversions use MUFG Bank's posted rates for 12 November 2026 (midpoint of selling and buying rates), e.g. $1 = ¥159.63 and €1 = ¥177.09. Average wages: OECD "Average annual wages", 2025.

A Japanese Diet member is paid more than four average workers combined. The US, the UK and France are around 2x, and Sweden is below 2x. Japan's National Tax Agency statistics tell the same story: the average salary of employees who worked the full year is ¥4.87 million[National Tax Agency]. The salary and term-end allowance alone come to 4.5 times that.

Japan ranks 6th in yen terms, yet its pay can still be called high

Ranked by yen amounts alone, Japan's ¥21.91 million is 6th of the 10 countries. The US (¥27.78 million), Australia, Germany, Canada and Italy come higher. With the yen weak at around ¥159 to the dollar, foreign pay looks large when converted into yen.

The claim that "Japanese Diet members' pay is the 3rd highest in the world" is still quoted, for example from a 2022 business magazine article[Toyo Keizai Online]. It was based on a 2019 tally by an overseas website, when the yen was stronger at around ¥110 to the dollar. Comparing face values at today's exchange rates, that ranking no longer holds.

Japan's pay can still be called too high because the right comparison is with the pay of the country's own people. Members' pay comes from taxes, and those taxes are paid by the country's own workers. US members' pay has been frozen at $174,000 since 2009, and because average wages have grown in the meantime, it is now 2x the average[Congressional Research Service]. Japan's pay is more than 4x the average. Even if the weak yen makes foreign face values look large, the gap with the country's own workers remains largest in Japan.

Only Japan and Korea pay a bonus; Japan's term-end allowance is ¥6.38 million a year

Japanese Diet members receive a term-end allowance in June and December. For an ordinary member it is ¥3.19 million each time, or ¥6.38 million a year[Kyodo News]. The bonus alone exceeds the average company employee's salary of ¥4.87 million.

The German Bundestag states explicitly that "members receive no annual special payments"[German Bundestag]. Italy's Chamber of Deputies also pays its members' remuneration in 12 monthly instalments[Italian Chamber of Deputies]. The published materials of the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Sweden and France show no bonus equivalent to a term-end allowance either. South Korea has a long-service allowance and holiday expenses for the Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok holidays (₩8.79 million a year).

Japan's term-end allowance is linked to the pay of national public servants in special positions and rises with it. The increase from the 2024 pay revision was frozen at the pre-revision level by a law enacted in May 2026. However, the freeze is temporary, lasting until July 2028 or the next dissolution of the House of Representatives, and when it expires the link returns[House of Representatives].

Flat-rate tax-free allowances: Japan's is the largest at 2.3 times the average wage

Separately from pay, members receive money for office costs and living expenses in the capital. How it is paid falls broadly into two groups: countries that hand over a flat amount in advance, and countries that reimburse only what is spent, against receipts.

*Compiled from the German Bundestag, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the French National Assembly, the UK's Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, the US Congressional Research Service, Australia's Remuneration Tribunal determination, the Swedish Riksdag, South Korea's Act on Aides and Allowances of National Assembly Members, and news reports (2026 figures). Yen conversions use posted rates for 12 November 2026.

Japan's former bunsho tsushinhi is ¥12 million a year, 2.3 times the average wage. Among flat-rate allowances, it is the heaviest of the countries compared. In yen terms, France's mandate expense allowance (about ¥15.38 million) is larger, but relative to the average wage it is 2.0x. Germany's lump-sum expense allowance is also flat-rate and tax-free, and needs no receipts at all, but it is 1.2x the average wage[German Bundestag]. Australia pays a flat amount but taxes it as income, letting members deduct only the expenses they actually incur.

Even with a flat amount, French deputies pay out of a dedicated account and keep their receipts, and an ethics officer checks all receipts in spot audits[French National Assembly]. The UK, the US and Canada reimburse what is spent and publish the details online[Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority]. Japan began requiring reports on spending and return of the balance from the August 2025 payment, but copies of receipts are not posted online and can only be seen by filing a disclosure request. Why the former bunsho tsushinhi is tax-free and how the new rules work are covered in Diet members' money that is tax-free.

In the UK an independent body sets pay; in Japan members set it themselves by law

Who decides the pay also differs from country to country.

In the UK, after the 2009 expenses scandal over improper claims, members' pay and expenses came to be set and scrutinized by a body outside Parliament[Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority]. Germany has a mechanism that raises pay in line with wages, but in 2026 members themselves chose to forgo the increase[German Bundestag].

In Japan, the salary is fixed at ¥1.294 million a month by the Act on Salaries, Travel Expenses and Allowances of Diet Members, and only the Diet itself can change it[e-Gov Laws]. In 2025, an amendment raising it by ¥50,000 a month was considered and then shelved[Litmus]. There is no body that reviews the level of pay from outside, and no forum where a third party judges whether a level above 4 times the average wage is appropriate. For an international comparison of the tax burden and how taxes are used, see also An international comparison of the national burden ratio.

Summary

• A Japanese Diet member's salary and term-end allowance total ¥21.908 million a year, 4.2 times the average wage. That is the highest of the 10 countries compared, and twice the US ratio of 2.0x.
• In face value converted into yen, Japan ranks 6th of 10, but that is because the weak yen makes foreign amounts look large; the gap with the country's own workers is largest in Japan.
• The term-end allowance is ¥6.38 million a year, more than the average company employee's salary of ¥4.87 million. Germany, Italy and others pay no bonus.
• The flat-rate, tax-free former bunsho tsushinhi is ¥12 million a year, 2.3 times the average wage and the heaviest of the countries compared; together with pay it comes to 6.5 times the average wage.
• In the UK and Australia an independent body sets pay, but in Japan the Diet sets it itself by law, and there is no body to review it from outside.

References (sources)

• e-Gov Laws: Act on Salaries, Travel Expenses and Allowances of Diet Members (in Japanese)
• House of Representatives: Bill partially amending the Act on Salaries, Travel Expenses and Allowances of Diet Members (freeze of the term-end allowance; enacted 29 May 2026, in Japanese)
• Kyodo News (Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun): Summer bonus for national public servants (30 June 2026; Diet members ¥3.19 million, in Japanese)
• National Tax Agency: Statistical Survey of Actual Status for Salary in the Private Sector, 2025 (in Japanese)
• OECD: Average annual wages (2025; retrieved 13 November 2026)
• MUFG Bank: Exchange rates for 12 November 2026 (in Japanese)
• Congressional Research Service: Congressional Salaries and Allowances (10 September 2026 version)
• Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Decision on MPs' pay for 2026-27
• German Bundestag: Members' remuneration / Lump-sum expense allowance / Forgoing the 2026 increase (in German)
• French National Assembly: The material situation of deputies (January 2026, in French)
• Italian Chamber of Deputies: Members' remuneration and allowances (in Italian)
• House of Commons of Canada: Members' salaries (from 1 April 2026)
• Australian Remuneration Tribunal: 2026 determination on remuneration of members of parliament
• Swedish Riksdag: Members' remuneration (in Swedish)
• Korea Law Information Center: Act on Aides and Allowances of National Assembly Members (in Korean) / Kyeonggi Ilbo (27 September 2026; 2026 payment amounts, in Korean)
• Litmus: "Diet members raised their pay by almost ¥5 million" is false; the increase is an average of income including share sales (July 2026, in Japanese)
• Toyo Keizai Online: Japan 3rd in world ranking of 30 countries' "Diet members' pay" (January 2022, in Japanese)

This article is general information based on materials published by parliaments and government bodies in each country, and on news reports, as of 13 November 2026. Pay and allowance amounts are revised every year in each country, and yen conversions change with exchange rates. Average wages are OECD statistics and are defined differently from the National Tax Agency's average salary.