How Much Do Orthopaedic Surgeons Earn in Japan? 2025 Physician Income Data
Orthopaedic surgeons in Japan reported a median annual income of ¥19 million (approximately £91,000) in the latest specialty-level physician income data from the Physician Career Research Institute.
The findings come from a 2025 survey of 2,055 physicians conducted by Mediwel, with 139 orthopaedic surgeons represented in the specialty analysis.
For orthopaedic surgeons specifically, the survey found:
Median annual income: ¥19 million (approximately £91,000)
Proportion earning ¥20 million or more: 45.32%
¥20 million threshold: approximately £96,000
Orthopaedic surgery respondents: 139
Importantly, these figures represent annual income including additional or side work, rather than simply the salary received from a physician's main employer.
What is the median income for an orthopaedic surgeon in Japan?
The reported median annual income for orthopaedic surgeons was:
¥19 million (approximately £91,000)
This means the midpoint of the income distribution for the orthopaedic surgeons surveyed fell within the income band represented by ¥19 million.
It should not be interpreted as a contractual salary or guaranteed annual earnings.
Instead, the survey is designed to provide a picture of physicians' total annual professional income, including earnings from additional employment or side work.
For an orthopaedic surgeon assessing their own compensation, that distinction is important.
A hospital salary alone may not represent the physician's complete annual earnings.
Nearly half reported earning ¥20 million or more
The survey provides another useful benchmark for orthopaedic surgeons.
45.32% of orthopaedic surgery respondents reported annual income of at least ¥20 million (approximately £96,000).
In practical terms, that means close to one in two of the orthopaedic surgeons participating in the survey fell into the ¥20 million-plus income group.
For an orthopaedic surgeon trying to understand whether their own compensation sits around the middle or towards the higher end of the reported income distribution, this is arguably as useful as the median itself.
The two figures together provide a clearer picture:
Median income: ¥19 million (approximately £91,000)
Earning ¥20 million+ (approximately £96,000+): 45.32%
Why does the survey include side work?
One of the important characteristics of physician compensation in Japan is that earnings from a doctor's primary workplace do not necessarily represent their entire professional income.
Physicians may undertake additional paid clinical work alongside their main position.
This can include work at another hospital or clinic, additional shifts or other paid medical activity.
The Physician Career Research Institute therefore reports specialty income including part-time work and side jobs.
That means the ¥19 million figure should be interpreted as:
total reported annual physician income
rather than:
base salary from an orthopaedic surgeon's main hospital or employer.
This distinction becomes particularly important when comparing a personal employment contract with published compensation benchmarks.
An orthopaedic surgeon receiving less than ¥19 million from their principal employer is not necessarily earning below the survey median once additional professional income is included.
Likewise, the survey should not be used as evidence that an orthopaedic surgeon should expect a ¥19 million basic salary.
How many orthopaedic surgeons were included?
The specialty analysis included 139 orthopaedic surgeons.
That gives this particular specialty a useful sample within the wider 2,055-physician survey.
The survey only published specialty-level income figures for specialties with at least 15 respondents, helping to avoid presenting figures for extremely small groups.
Among the orthopaedic surgery respondents, the median age was 47 years.
This is relevant when interpreting the compensation data because physician earnings can be influenced by career stage, seniority, working arrangements and the amount of additional work undertaken.
The survey therefore provides a useful market benchmark, but it does not mean every orthopaedic surgeon in Japan should expect the same income.
What does the ¥19 million median actually mean?
There is another methodological point that orthopaedic surgeons should understand before using the figure as a compensation benchmark.
Survey participants did not provide income as an exact number.
Instead, income was collected in ranges, such as:
¥18 million to ¥20 million
The research then reports the midpoint of that income band.
Therefore, the published ¥19 million median represents the midpoint of the relevant ¥18 million–¥20 million income category.
It should consequently be regarded as an approximate compensation benchmark rather than an exact median calculated from individual salary amounts.
Is this salary or total compensation?
For an orthopaedic surgeon reviewing the data, the simplest interpretation is:
It is total annual income, not basic salary.
The survey includes side work and additional professional earnings.
That makes it particularly useful for understanding what orthopaedic surgeons may actually receive across all their professional activities during a year.
But it also means the figure should not be directly compared with an advertised hospital salary without accounting for the difference in definition.
When evaluating an employment opportunity, an orthopaedic surgeon may therefore want to consider several separate questions:
What is the salary from the principal employer?
What additional paid clinical work is available?
How many additional hours are required to generate that income?
Are allowances or other payments included?
What is the realistic total annual professional income?
The ¥19 million benchmark is most useful when viewed in that broader compensation context.
What should orthopaedic surgeons take from the 2025 data?
For orthopaedic surgeons in Japan, there are two particularly useful compensation benchmarks from the latest specialty survey.
The first is median total annual income:
¥19 million (approximately £91,000)
The second is the proportion reporting income of at least ¥20 million:
45.32% earned ¥20 million or more (approximately £96,000+).
These figures provide orthopaedic surgeons with a current reference point when considering their own professional earnings.
However, they should be interpreted as total annual income including side work, rather than base salary.
For an individual orthopaedic surgeon, actual income may vary considerably according to career stage, working arrangement, employer, workload and additional professional activity.
The most useful question is therefore not simply:
“What is an orthopaedic surgeon's salary in Japan?”
It is:
“What is my total annual professional income as an orthopaedic surgeon, and how does it compare with the latest ¥19 million benchmark?”
For orthopaedic surgeons assessing their compensation in Japan, that provides a much more meaningful comparison.
Source: Physician Career Research Institute / Mediwel, 2025 Physician Income Survey. The specialty-level analysis was published on 14 January 2026.
Currency note: Sterling equivalents are approximate conversions using the JPY/GBP exchange rate on 11 September 2026. At that rate, ¥19 million equates to approximately £91,000 and ¥20 million to approximately £96,000. GBP figures are provided only for reader context and were not reported by the original survey.
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