New Delhi: Employment in India’s unregistered non-agricultural sector registered a modest but resilient increase in the July-September quarter, according to Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) data released on Tuesday.
The latest quarterly estimates show the number of unregistered businesses rose to around 7.97 million in the July-September quarter, from 7.94 million in the April-June period, a marginal gain but based on a sharp increase from the previous annual estimate of around 7.34 million businesses for 2023-24.
Employment in the sector was around 12.86 million, up slightly from the previous quarter but noticeably higher than the more than 12 million workers reported in the 2023-24 annual survey.
Data drawn from the Office for National Statistics’ latest quarterly bulletin on unregistered businesses in the sector underscores the resilience of the sector at a time of uncertain global business and economic pressures, the MoSPI survey said.
“Despite global challenges and business uncertainty, the private sector remained afloat during the July-September quarter,” he added.
Gentle, meaningful shifts
In addition to the headline numbers, the bulletin signals subtle and meaningful shifts in the composition of the sector.
Internet usage among businesses grew steadily, rising to 39% in July-September from 36% in the previous quarter, indicating an acceleration in digital adoption, even among small, often informal operators.
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The recovery in non-listed manufacturing stood out as both business numbers and employment shares improved, with manufacturing’s share of plants rising to 27% from 26% and its share of employment to 28% from 26% for the quarter. Women also continued to make up a substantial part of the workforce, accounting for nearly 29% of total employment in the last quarter.
The quarterly release of data for the unlisted sector is part of a wider push by official statisticians to provide data on India’s vast informal economy with greater frequency.
Urban workforce
However, the quarterly bulletin serves as a more frequent supplement to the annual survey of the same segment, which was introduced to provide policymakers and researchers with timely insight into short-term movements.
Urban employment also increased, with the urban labor force rising to around 6.91 million from 6.61 million in the previous quarter, indicating greater urban labor absorption.
“Many unregistered manufacturing units depend on casual labour, migrant workers and helpers who often switch to seasonal agricultural work in the previous quarter and return when manufacturing activity picks up, leading to an increase in employment rather than the number of establishments,” the MoSPI survey said. A total of 5,880 first-stage units have been covered by MoSPI for the July-September 2025 survey round, covering 2,419 villages and 3,461 city blocks, according to the ministry.
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The survey covered most parts of India, except for a few hard-to-reach places like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Ladakh and selected districts in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
From this sample frame, 1,65,842 establishments were finally surveyed, including 71,925 in rural areas and 93,917 in urban centres, MoSPI said.
“In order to move to quarterly estimates, the total sample size has been increased by about 1.5 times compared to previous rounds of ASUSE (Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises) and the survey design has been improved to provide more robust, reliable and timely quarterly data,” he added.
Industrial production
To be sure, India’s high-frequency indicators for 2QFY26 point to broad economic strength, led by robust PMIs, with manufacturing averaging around 58.7 and services around 61.4 during the quarter, signaling strong expansion across sectors.
Meanwhile, industrial production also improved, with the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and manufacturing showing steady year-on-year gains during the quarter.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimates gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter at 7%.
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“Employment and activity in India’s non-farm non-listed sector rose marginally to 7.97 million in the July-September quarter from 7.94 million in the previous quarter, and employment rose to $12.86 million. Although these quarter-on-quarter estimates suggest a modest recovery year-on-year and both indicators are significantly higher than in 24. the informal economy amid global headwinds,” he said Manoranjan Sharma, Chief Economist, Infomerics Ratings.
“Still, the welcome improvement should not obscure persistent structural problems such as low productivity, underemployment and the sector’s dependence on labor absorption when formal job creation lags behind. A more complete picture would require sectoral details, financial indicators and wage data,” he added.
