TOKYO, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 85 percent of Japanese companies plan to increase wages in the coming fiscal year as Japan's annual spring wage negotiations gain momentum, a private survey showed Tuesday.

About 85.2 percent of companies planned to implement wage increases, similar to last year's results, according to the survey by Tokyo Shoko Research, which collected responses from over 5,400 companies nationwide.

While 92.8 percent of large corporations planned wage hikes, the figure for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was 84.6 percent, showing an 8-point gap.

Among companies raising wages, the top reasons cited were preventing employee turnover (78.0 percent), addressing rising living costs (71.7 percent), and attracting new hires (50.1 percent).

The most common planned raise among large companies was 5 percent, with 32.2 percent opting for this level, while among SMEs, the most frequent increase was 3 percent.

SMEs that do not plan to raise wages cited rising costs, such as raw materials and electricity, which they struggle to pass on through price increases, according to the survey. Enditem

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