Japan 30 years ago and now In comparison
| Life has become more convenient than it was 30 years ago, with the spread of computers and smartphones, and the ability to shop online and work from home. On the other hand, what about money? In fact, there are some points that show that household budgets are tighter than they used to be. This time, let’s compare current prices with prices from about 30 years ago and see how much the situation surrounding money has changed. To live in today’s harsh world, it is important to know how you manage your money. |
■Is your annual income lower than in the 1990s?
According to the “2021 Private Sector Salary Survey” released by the National Tax Agency in September 2022, the average annual income in 2021 is 4.43 million yen.
Looking at the average annual salary in 1991, 30 years ago, it was 4,466,000 yen.
Looking at annual income, the average annual income is almost unchanged between 2021 and 1991, but the highest average annual income in the past 30 years was 4,673,000 yen in 1997.
Compared to its peak in 1997, the amount is 243,000 yen lower. I think it’s shocking that average salaries have fallen this much after 30 years.
■Even though income has decreased, expenses are increasing!
The consumer price index has increased by about 5% compared to 1990. As for March 2022, due to the world situation, etc., there will be an increase of 1.2% compared to the same month of the previous year.
Over the past 30 years, the weight of indirect taxes, including consumption tax, has increased, and households with lower incomes have a heavier burden.
Consumption tax started at 3% in 1989, but has since increased to 5%, 8%, and reached 10% in 2019, with the exception of some foodstuffs. As of March 2022, oil prices are skyrocketing due to the international situation, food prices are increasing one after another, and some people are concerned about the burden on their household budgets. Speaking of indirect taxes, tobacco taxes have also increased significantly and are more than double what they were 30 years ago.
For households with two or more workers, the tax burden rate, including social insurance premiums and indirect taxes, was 20.6% in 1988, but increased to 25.7% in 2017. When we divided income into five levels, we found that households with lower incomes experienced a larger increase, but even in the middle group, the increase rose from 18.9% to 24.4%.
■In the past 30 years, prices have also increased.
For example…Bread (1Kg) has increased from 364 yen to 512 yen, Domestic beef tenderloin (100g) has increased from 680 yen to 901 yen, Delivery milk (180ml) has increased from 65 yen to 130 yen, and the annual number of products in 2023 has already increased. The prices of 31,681 items have increased.
When it comes to food, margarine, coffee, Japanese sweets, Western sweets, white bread, ramen, udon, pasta, flour, edible oil, frozen foods, beef bowls, vegetables, and beans have all seen price increases, with margarine up to 47% higher and Japanese and Western sweets 7-8% higher. It seems that the price of coffee will increase by 20%.
At the beef bowl chain Matsuya, the price of a standard size sized portion has increased by 80 yen, from 320 yen to 400 yen.
| 30 years ago | now | |
| Average annual income | 4,466,000 yen | 4,430,000 yen |
| social insurance premiums | Approximately 30,000 yen per month | Approximately 60,000 yen per month |
| bank interest rate | 6% | 0.002% |
| Severance pay | 28.7 million yen | 19.8 million yen |
| consumption tax | 3% | 10% |
| National Health Insurance | 9,000 yen | 16,500 yen |
| cigarette | 120 yen | 580 yen |
| Disneyland 1 day passport |
4,400 yen | 10,900 yen |
(*Comparison is based on model case.)
Additionally, for non-food items, tobacco, Disneyland/DisneySea tickets, electricity and gas prices have increased, and ticket prices for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea have also increased by up to 2.5 times for one-day tickets.
The rise in prices of goods means that even if you have the same 10,000 yen bill, you can buy fewer things than in the past.
It seems that wise asset management choices will become even more important in the future.
By Admin|2023-10-11|2023,News Release|