Analyses › Growth vs jobs
Growth vs jobs
Formal job coverage fell while the economy grew
GDP grew 7.7% in FY26 (MoSPI Provisional Estimates, 5 June 2026, new 2022-23 base). On the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the share of all workers in regular wage or salaried jobs with any social security was 11.5% in 2017-18 and 9.6% in 2022-23, and GDP grew in every year of that period except the pandemic year. The share recovered to 10.1% in 2023-24, which is still 1.4 points below where the survey began. PLFS starts in 2017-18, so there is no comparable figure for the years before it.
What follows. Headline GDP growth did not bring a larger share of workers into jobs with social security.
Real GDP growth
2004-2013 average 6.8%; 2014-2026 average 6.2%; latest 7.7% in 2025. Source, method and every year.
Workers in regular jobs with social security
2004-2013 average none published; 2014-2026 average 10.4%; latest 10.1% in 2023. Source, method and every year.
One of 37 readings of the dataset, rebuilt whenever the data are refreshed. Data vintage 2026-10-10. Cite as Raman, V.S., Some Perspective: India's Political Economy, 2004-2026, someperspective.info, CC BY 4.0.