PLFS 2025 & ASUSE 2025: India’s Labour Market and Urban Enterprise Landscape Strengthens
Context
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025 and the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025 have been released, offering a comprehensive assessment of India’s labour market, employment trends, and the performance of the urban unincorporated sector. The reports highlight improvements in labour force participation, declining unemployment, stronger enterprise productivity, and increasing women’s participation in both employment and entrepreneurship.
PLFS and ASUSE: An Overview
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
Conducted by: National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Launched in: 2017, replacing the earlier Employment-Unemployment Survey to provide regular labour market estimates.
Objectives
- Estimate employment and unemployment levels.
- Measure labour force participation across rural and urban India.
- Produce annual and quarterly labour statistics.
- Support evidence-based policymaking for employment generation and skill development.
Major Indicators
- Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): Percentage of the population either employed or actively seeking employment.
- Worker Population Ratio (WPR): Percentage of the population that is employed.
- Unemployment Rate (UR): Percentage of the labour force that is unemployed but actively seeking work.
- Usual Status (US) and Current Weekly Status (CWS): Standard reference periods used for measuring employment and unemployment.
Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE)
Conducted by: National Statistical Office (NSO).
Coverage
The survey provides data on:
- Employment generation
- Number of enterprises
- Gross Value Added (GVA)
- Productivity
- Wages and salaries
- Ownership patterns
It covers unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises (excluding construction), including:
- Manufacturing enterprises
- Trade establishments
- Service sector enterprises
The survey serves as an important statistical base for policies relating to MSMEs, labour reforms, urban development, and entrepreneurship.
About the National Statistical Office (NSO)
- Apex statistical organisation of the Government of India under MoSPI.
- Established in 2019 by merging the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
- Responsible for compiling key national statistics such as GDP, Consumer Price Index (CPI), Index of Industrial Production (IIP), and conducting nationwide socio-economic surveys.
Key Findings of PLFS 2025
Labour Force Participation Continues to Improve
The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above increased from 47.7% (2017–18) to 52.4% (2025), reflecting greater engagement of the working-age population in economic activities.
Female LFPR rose significantly from 19.8% to 27.2%, while male LFPR increased from 74.2% to 75.9%, indicating gradual improvement in women’s participation in the workforce.
Employment Opportunities Expand
The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) increased from 43.9% in 2017–18 to 49.8% in 2025.
Women’s WPR improved substantially from 17.9% to 25.5%, while men’s WPR rose from 68.6% to 72.6%, demonstrating broader employment growth across urban India.
Steady Decline in Unemployment
The overall Unemployment Rate (UR) under the usual status declined from 7.9% to 4.9% during 2017–18 to 2025.
Male unemployment reduced from 7.5% to 4.5%, whereas female unemployment declined from 10.4% (2018–19) to 6.1%.
The unemployment rate in million-plus cities is now almost equal to the national urban average, indicating improved labour market conditions.
Employment Pattern in Million-Plus Cities
Large metropolitan cities display a more organised employment structure.
- More than 58% of workers are engaged in regular salaried employment.
- Casual labour accounts for only 6.3% of total employment.
- Service sectors such as finance, transport, communication, and business services dominate employment.
- Agriculture contributes only 1.6% of employment.
This reflects the diversified and service-driven nature of metropolitan economies.
Higher Earnings and Better Employment Quality
Average earnings in million-plus cities remain significantly higher than the urban national average.
Average monthly income:
- Self-employed: ₹30,858
- Regular salaried employees: ₹28,808
- Casual workers: ₹624 per day
The proportion of youth (15–29 years) classified as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) was 22.2%, lower than the urban average of 25%.
Factors Limiting Labour Force Participation
Among men outside the labour force, over 53% cited continuing education as the primary reason.
Among women, nearly 69% reported childcare responsibilities and household work, highlighting the need for improved childcare support, flexible work arrangements, and gender-inclusive labour policies.
Key Findings of ASUSE 2025
Growing Importance of the Urban Unincorporated Sector
The survey provides the first comprehensive assessment of the unincorporated non-agricultural sector across India’s 46 million-plus cities.
These cities account for:
- 13% of total establishments
- 16% of employment
- 21% of Gross Value Added (GVA)
This underlines the growing contribution of metropolitan regions to India’s urban economy.
Major Entrepreneurial Hubs
Several metropolitan cities have emerged as important centres of entrepreneurship.
- Kolkata, Surat, and Greater Hyderabad together account for over 22% of all unincorporated establishments.
- Greater Hyderabad, Delhi, and Kolkata together employ nearly 22% of the sector’s workforce.
Their success reflects stronger infrastructure, larger markets, and better business ecosystems.
Women’s Entrepreneurship on the Rise
Women continue to play an increasingly significant role in urban enterprises.
- In 32 out of 46 cities, women own more than 20% of enterprises.
- Surat, Vadodara, and Pune have over 40% women-owned proprietary establishments.
- In 19 cities, women constitute more than 30% of the workforce.
These trends indicate increasing economic participation by women in India’s urban economy.
Higher Productivity Levels
Million-plus cities perform better than other urban areas in enterprise productivity.
- GVA per worker: ₹2.11 lakh (compared to ₹1.80 lakh elsewhere).
- GVA per establishment: ₹4.17 lakh.
Leading cities include:
- Pimpri Chinchwad
- Greater Hyderabad
- Delhi
- Faridabad
Their performance reflects stronger industrial clusters, skilled labour availability, and superior infrastructure.
Greater Employment Generation
Nearly 24.3% of enterprises in million-plus cities regularly employ hired workers, compared to 19% in other urban areas.
Cities such as Srinagar, Greater Hyderabad, and Delhi recorded the highest share of enterprises employing regular workers, highlighting stronger job creation capacity.
Policy Importance
PLFS and ASUSE strengthen India’s statistical system by providing reliable city-level estimates for policymaking.
The findings can support policies relating to:
- Employment generation
- Skill development
- Urban planning
- Infrastructure investment
- MSME promotion
- Women’s economic empowerment
The reports also contribute to the vision of Viksit Bharat by enabling better governance and informed resource allocation.
Way Forward
The findings of PLFS 2025 and ASUSE 2025 indicate that India’s million-plus cities are becoming key drivers of employment, entrepreneurship, productivity, and economic growth. Rising labour force participation, declining unemployment, improved earnings, expanding women-led enterprises, and higher enterprise productivity reflect the growing strength of India’s urban economy.
However, challenges such as gender gaps in labour force participation, care responsibilities, and the need for greater workforce inclusion remain. Going forward, focused policies promoting skill development, women’s employment, childcare support, enterprise expansion, and urban infrastructure will be essential to sustain inclusive and balanced economic growth.
Source : MOSPI