Employment In Informal Sector Grows 10%, Says Government Survey

The informal sector witnessed a 10% increase in employment to over 12 crore during the year ended September 2024, while the number of establishments rose 12% to 7.34 crore, according to a survey by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday.

In the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises for 2023–24 — also called ASUSE 2023–24 — data were collected from a total of 4,98,024 establishments (2,73,085 in rural and 2,24,939 in urban) from 16,842 surveyed FSUs (8,523 in rural and 8,319 in urban).

The survey was conducted based on area frame and establishments have been listed in the selected first stage units of both rural and urban sectors.

Barring a few big establishments that had provided annual data from their audited books of accounts, most data were collected from the selected establishments through oral enquiry pertaining to the 'monthly' reference period. The data were collected in tablet using computer assisted personal interviewing.

This unorganised sector employed more than 12 crore workers between October 2023 and September 2024, thereby marking an increase of more than 1 crore workers from 2022–23, reflecting a robust labour market growth.

The total number of workers employed rose to 12,05,99,800 in ASUSE 2023–24 against 10,96,26,000 in ASUSE 2022–23.

The ASUSE 2023–24 included unorganised enterprises that come under the non-agriculture sector, where gross value added had grown 16.52% during the period between October 2023 and September 2024.

GVA per worker, a measure of labour productivity of the sector, increased to Rs 1,49,742 in 2023-24 from Rs 1,41,769 in 2022-23 in current prices, showing a 5.62% increase.

During the same period, the gross value of output for each establishment also rose from Rs 4,63,389 to Rs 4,91,862 in current prices.

Among the broad activities, the "other services" sector showed the highest annual growth of 18%. This was followed by the manufacturing sector, which grew 10% yearly.

The female-owned proprietary establishments rose from 23% in 2022–23 to 26% in ASUSE 2023–24. The survey stated that the increase in female entrepreneurship points to a positive shift among women in business ownership over the given period.

During the survey period, the percentage of establishments using internet grew significantly to 27% against 21% in 2022–23 .

This substantial growth reflects a strong trend toward digital adoption among establishments, highlighting the increasing reliance on the Internet for business operations.

Each hired worker's average emolument rose by 13% in 2023–24 compared to the previous year 2022–23, which the survey said indicated improvements in wage levels.

This wage growth serves as a catalyst, strengthening the labour market, enhancing productivity, and fuelling broader economic demand.

The highest increase in this metric was observed in the manufacturing sector with a growth of little more than 16%.

The total number of establishments in the sector increased substantially from 6.5 crore in 2022-23 to 7.34 crore in 2023-24, representing a healthy 12.84% growth.