Income in India discusses the financial state in India. With rising economic growth and India's income is also rising rapidly. As an overview, India's per capita net national income or NNI was around Rs. 98,374 in 2022-23.[1] The per-capita income is a crude indicator of the prosperity of a country. In contrast, the gross national income at constant prices stood at over 128 trillion rupees.[2] According to a 2021 report by the Pew Research Center, India has roughly 1.2 billion lower-income individuals, 66 million middle-income individuals, 16 million upper-middle-income individuals, and barely 2 million in the high-income group.[3] According to The Economist, 78 million of India's population are considered middle class as of 2017, if defined using the cutoff of those making more than $10 per day, a standard used by the India's National Council of Applied Economic Research.[4] According to the World Bank, 93% of India's population lived on less than $10 per day, and 99% lived on less than $20 per day in 2021.[5]
Financial year data
GDP per capita, GNI per capita and NNI per capita of India[6][7]
Year
At current prices (INR)
At 2011-12 prices (INR)
GDP per capita
GNI per capita
NNI per capita
GDP per capita
GNI per capita
NNI per capita
2023-24
211,725
208,633
184,205
124,600
122,766
106,744
2022-23
194,879
192,201
169,496
116,216
114,478
99,404
2021-22
172,422
170,392
150,906
109,762
108,345
94,054
2020-21
146,301
144,334
127,065
100,981
99,578
86,054
2019-20
149,701
148,261
132,115
108,247
107,191
94,270
2018-19
142,328
140,804
125,883
105,526
104,377
92,241
2017-18
130,061
128,655
115,224
100,035
98,925
87,586
2016-17
118,489
116,070
103,870
94,752
93,639
83,003
2015-16
107,342
106,096
94,797
88,617
87,565
77,659
2014-15
98,405
97,241
86,647
83,091
82,107
72,805
2013-14
89,796
88,678
79,118
78,348
77,370
68,572
2012-13
80,519
79,573
70,983
74,600
73,722
65,538
2011-12
71,610
70,980
63,462
71,610
70,980
63,462
Estimates
The International Labour Organization in its report India Employment Report 2024: Youth Employment, Education and Skills states that the average earning of regular salaried workers (Rs 19,010) was considerably higher than those of self-employed (Rs 11,973) and casual (Rs 8,267) workers in 2022.[8]
Average monthly earnings in 2022 (rupees, nominal value)[9]
Employment
Rural
Urban
Total
Self-employed
10,201
17,991
11,973
Regular salaried
15,177
21,826
19,010
Casual
7,997
9,749
8,267
Number and share of employment (aged 15+) in 2022[9]
Employment
Number (million)
Share
Self-employed
304.1
55.8%
Regular salaried
118.1
21.5%
Casual
122.2
22.7%
India's nominal per capita income was US$1,670 per year in 2016, ranked 112th out of 164 countries by the World Bank,[10] while its per capita income on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis was US$5,350, and ranked 106th.[11] Other estimates for per capita gross national income and gross domestic product vary by source. For example, India's average GDP per capita on PPP basis in 2009, according to The Economist, was US$5,138, with significant variation among its states and union territories. Goa had the highest per capita PPP GDP at US$14,903, while Bihar the lowest with per capita PPP GDP of US$682 as of 2015[12] In rupee terms, India's per capita income grew by 10.4% to reach Rs.74,920 in 2013–14.
While India's per capita incomes were low, the average household size and consequent household incomes were higher. India had a total of 247 million households in 2011, with an average of about 4.9 people per household, according to Census of India.[13]
Estimates for average household income and the size of India's middle-income households vary by source. Using World Bank's definition of middle-income families to be those with per capita income between $10 and $50 per day,[14] the National Council of Applied Economic Research[15] of India completed a survey and concluded there were 153 million people who belonged to middle income group in 2006. In contrast, Meyer and Birdsall and Tim Light used a different survey and estimated the number of Middle-Income population to be about 70 million in 2009–2010.[16] These groups, as well as the World Bank, estimated in their 2011 reports that if India's economy continues to grow per projections, India's middle income group would double by 2015 over 2010 levels, and grow by an additional 500 million people by 2025. This would make it, with China, the world's largest middle income market.[17]
Compared to other countries, income inequality in India is relatively small as measured by Gini coefficient. India had a Gini coefficient of 32.5 in the year 1999- 2000;[18] India's nominal Gini index rose to 36.8 in 2005, while real Gini after tax remained nearly flat at 32.6.[19]
Gini coefficient of India and other countries according to the World Bank (2018).[25] Higher Gini Index means more income inequality.
As in other countries, residents of Indian cities have a higher per capita income and standard of living than rural residents. Towns and cities make more than two-thirds of the Indian GDP, even though less than a third of the population live in them.[26]
The Economic Survey of India 2007 by OECD concluded that:
"At the state level, economic performance is much better in states with a relatively liberal regulatory environment than in the relatively more restrictive states".[26]
The analysis of this report suggests that the differences in economic performance across states are associated with the extent to which states have introduced market-oriented reforms. Thus, further reforms on these lines, complemented with measures to improve infrastructure, education and basic services, would increase the potential for growth outside of agriculture and thus boost better-paid employment, which is a key to sharing the fruits of growth and lowering poverty.
Statistics
Percentage share in total national household disposable income by Class (2016)[27]
Quintile 5 (Top 20%) (44.9%)
Quintile 4 (22.1%)
Quintile 3 (15.2%)
Quintile 2 (10.8%)
Quintile 1 (Bottom 20%) (7%)
Distribution of Annual Household Income in India (in pounds/annum)[28]
^"In the pandemic, India's middle class shrinks and poverty spreads while China sees smaller changes". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 18 March 2021. The poor live on $2 or less daily, low income on $2.01-$10, middle income on $10.01-$20, upper-middle income on $20.01-$50 and high income on more than $50. All dollar figures are expressed in 2011 prices and purchasing power parity dollars, currency exchange rates adjusted for differences in the prices of goods and services across countries.
^"Fact Sheet: Gini Coefficient"(PDF). Source: The World Bank (2004) and Census and Statistics Department (2002). Legislative Council Secretariat Hong Kong. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2007. Note: The Gini coefficient in this datasheet is calculated on a scale of 0 to 1 and not 0 to 100. Hence, on a scale of 100 India's Gini coefficient (1999-2000) was 32.5 rather than 3.25
