Data › Work
India, 2004-2026
Work
Unemployment, participation and the kind of work people do. Most of these series begin in 2017-18 with the Periodic Labour Force Survey, so they have no earlier counterpart on the same basis.
Unemployment rate, ages 15 and over
Published from 2015. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Source and method
2015: Labour Bureau, Fifth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16), usual principal status, 5.0. 2014 and 2016 are empty: the Labour Bureau published no survey for 2014-15 or 2016-17, and its 2013-14 survey (4.9) belongs to an earlier year. The Labour Bureau series is a different survey from PLFS. 2017-2025: annual rates on usual status (ps+ss). From 2017 a year is the PLFS survey year that starts in July of it (2017 = 2017-18), through 2023 (2023-24); 2024 and 2025 are MoSPI's calendar-year rates. 2026: the average of the 8 PLFS Monthly Bulletins published for 2026 (January to August 2026: January 5, February 4.9, March 5.1, April 5.2, May 5.5, June 5.5, July 5.1, August 5), all-India, persons 15+, rural + urban. BASIS BREAK: the monthly bulletins report current weekly status (CWS), which counts a person as unemployed on the past week's activity and runs well above usual status. The 2026 value is therefore a different measure from the years before it, and most of the rise from 3.1 per cent in 2025 is the change of measure. On the same weekly measure MoSPI's calendar-year rate for 2025 was 5.3 per cent.
Youth unemployment rate, ages 15 to 29
Published from 2017. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Source and method
MoSPI PLFS, usual status (ps+ss), persons aged 15-29, all-India, rural + urban, from api.mospi.gov.in (retrieved 10 October 2026). 2017-2023 are the PLFS survey years starting in July of the year shown (2017 = 2017-18); 2024 and 2025 are MoSPI's calendar-year rates. 2014-2016 are left empty because PLFS began in 2017-18 and no comparable published figure exists. 2026 is left empty until an annual figure is published: the 2026 monthly bulletins average 15.4% for January to August, but they report current weekly status, which runs well above usual status.
Unemployment among graduates
Published from 2017. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Source and method
MoSPI PLFS, usual status (ps+ss), persons aged 15 and over with a graduate degree, all-India, rural + urban, from api.mospi.gov.in (retrieved 10 October 2026). 2017-2023 are the PLFS survey years starting in July of the year shown (2017 = 2017-18). MoSPI publishes no figure for graduates for 2014-2016 (before PLFS) or for 2024 onward yet, so those years are left empty.
Women's labour force participation, ages 15 and over
Published from 2017. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Source and method
MoSPI PLFS, labour force participation rate, usual status (ps+ss), women aged 15 and over, all-India, rural + urban, from api.mospi.gov.in (retrieved 10 October 2026). 2017-2023 are the PLFS survey years starting in July of the year shown (2017 = 2017-18); 2024 and 2025 are MoSPI's calendar-year rates. 2014-2016 are left empty because PLFS began in 2017-18, and 2026 until an annual figure is published. PLFS counts a woman who helps without pay in a household enterprise as a worker.
Workers in regular jobs with social security
Published from 2017. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Source and method
Derived from MoSPI PLFS published tables (api.mospi.gov.in, retrieved 10 October 2026), usual status (ps+ss), all-India, persons: the share of regular wage/salaried workers among all workers, multiplied by the share of regular wage/salaried employees with any social security benefit (100 minus the published share without any). 2017-18: 22.8% x 50.4% = 11.5; 2018-19: 23.8 x 48.1 = 11.4; 2019-20: 22.9 x 45.8 = 10.5; 2020-21: 21.1 x 46.2 = 9.7; 2021-22: 21.5 x 47.0 = 10.1; 2022-23: 20.9 x 46.1 = 9.6; 2023-24: 21.7 x 46.6 = 10.1. The social security table covers regular wage/salaried employees in the non-agricultural sector; regular wage work in agriculture is about 1% of workers. Years are PLFS survey years starting in July of the year shown. 2014-2016 (before PLFS) and 2024 onward (no annual table yet) are left empty.
Workers without a regular job and social security
Published from 2017. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Source and method
100 minus formalEmployment, for the years formalEmployment has a value.
Gig and platform workers, millions
Published from 2017. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Hollow markers are published estimates or projections, not outturns, and no average uses them: 2020, 7.7, NITI Aayog projection for 2020-21 (Table 14), which the Ministry of Labour cites as the current estimate; 2025, 14.3, NITI Aayog projection for 2025-26 (Table 14).
Source and method
NITI Aayog, India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy (June 2022), Table 14, gig workers in millions, usual principal and subsidiary status. 2017-2019 are NITI's actual estimates for the PLFS survey years starting in July of the year shown (2017-18 5.3, 2018-19 5.4, 2019-20 6.8). NITI's table labels 2020-21 (7.7 million) a projection, though the Ministry of Labour cites it as the current estimate, so it is held in the estimates block with the 2025-26 projection (14.3 million) and drawn as hollow markers. 23.5 million for 2029-30 is outside the site's range. NITI gives no figure for 2014-2016. NITI's 2011-12 estimate is 2.5 million.