75L jobs added in informal sector in 2025: NSO survey

NEW DELHI: Signalling a recovery from successive shocks of the last few years - including demonetisation, GST rollout and the Covid pandemic - the informal sector added nearly 75 lakh jobs during Jan-Dec 2025, the latest data released by the statistics ministry on Tuesday showed.

This takes the total number employed in the unorganised sector to 12.8 crore, up marginally from 12.1 crore in the Oct 2024-Sept 2025 period.

"(This) reflects robust labour market expansion. Among the broad activities, 'other services' sector showed the highest growth of 7.4% generating about 35 lakh new employment," NSO said. The informal manufacturing sector added 13 lakh jobs and trading activities added around 28 lakhs of these new jobs.

The number of establishments, too, registered robust growth (8%) to 7.9 crore in this period, results from the unincorporated sector survey by NSO - which covers business entities that are not legally incorporated as separate legal units and typically include small businesses, sole proprietorships, partnerships and informal sector businesses - showed.

"The number of establishments in 'other services' sector recorded a robust growth of 10.3% followed by a 6.5% increase witnessed by the manufacturing sector and 6.2% by trade sector. This increase reflects broad-based expansion across sectors and highlights the steady growth of the unincorporated non-agricultural sector," the statement read.

GVA (gross value added) of these enterprises, which is a key indicator of economic performance, rose by 10.9% to around Rs 20 lakh crore.

The survey also noted a shift in adoption of digital technologies, as the share of establishments using the internet for activities such as payments, logistics and sales jumped to 39.4% from 26.7%.

"Expansion was observed across all three broad activity groups of manufacturing, tra-de, and other services in major economic and operational parameters such as the number of establishments, employment, emoluments, and productivity," the survey noted.

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