The average monthly wage of full-time female workers rose 0.5 percent to ¥233,100 last year, the highest level since records began to be kept in 1976, the health ministry announced.
The latest survey covered wage levels last June at around 49,000 business establishments, excluding overtime allowances or bonuses, the ministry said Thursday.
With the average wage of their male counterparts up 0.2 percent to ¥329,000, women's wages came to around 70.9 percent of men's, also a record high, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
The average wage for all full-time workers climbed 0.3 percent to ¥297,700, rising for the third consecutive year.
The ministry said a separate salary survey compiled earlier that covered both full- and part-time workers, and included bonuses, showed the average monthly income in 2012 fell 0.7 percent to ¥314,127, the lowest level since this survey commenced in 1990.
The decline reflected lower bonuses and wages for part-timers.