GDP shrank 7.3% in calendar 2020 — the largest annual contraction in India's recorded history. The headline V-shape (8.7% in 2021) masked a structural break: formal employment never recovered its pre-COVID trajectory and gig work absorbed much of the displaced workforce.
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This is one of 36 standing analyses drawn from the Some Perspective dataset. It is not dated commentary: it describes a relationship in the data that holds across the series, and it is regenerated whenever the underlying dataset is refreshed. The figures quoted here reflect the 2026-08-15 data vintage.