TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s big companies are likely to raise wages by about 5% in 2025, the same as last year, the chair of a major business lobby said on Tuesday, as he pledged efforts to spread the wage growth momentum in small firms.

“The growth rate of large companies is likely to be the same as last year,” Takeshi Niinami, who heads Keizai Doyukai, one of the country’s largest business lobbies, said at a press conference.

“However, it is important for small and medium-sized companies to achieve wage growth that exceeds one year earlier than three consecutive years,” said Niinami.

Japanese companies have agreed to an average 5.1% wage increase in 2024, the biggest increase in three decades, according to Rengo, the country’s largest union. Rengo is seeking a wage increase of at least 5% by 2025.