The average income for a lawmaker in 2019 was 24.27 million yen, down 2.3 million yen from the previous year, according to reports released by both houses of the Diet.
Eight of the top 10 earners were members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
A total of 454 members of the House of Representatives and 199 members of the House of Councillors who were in office throughout last year disclosed their incomes. Newcomers who were elected in the July 2019 upper house election were excluded, as were once-defeated lawmakers who regained a spot in the Diet in that election.
The top three were all LDP lawmakers with income exceeding 100 million yen. House of Councillors lawmaker Taichiro Motoe made 845.02 million yen, including profits from stock transfers.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is also LDP president, topped the list of party leaders, with an income of 38.68 million yen. This is the second year in a row that Abe has been ranked first among party chiefs, but his earnings were down 1.6 million yen from 2018, when the election for the LDP presidency was held.
This decline is thought to be due to fewer media appearances, among other reasons.
The average income of a House of Representatives lawmaker was 23.26 million yen, while House of Councillors lawmakers made an average of 26.57 million yen. By political party, the LDP averaged 26.08 million yen, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan 22.09 million yen, and the Democratic Party for the People 22.04 million yen.
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