Number of employed people in India rose to 64.33 cr in FY24 from 47.5 cr in FY18

The number of employed people in the country rose to 64.33 crore in 2023-24 from 47.5 crore in 2017-18, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje informed Parliament on Thursday citing RBI data.

According to a written reply by the Minister of State for Labour & Employment in Rajya Sabha, 'The KLEMS (K: Capital, L: Labour, E: Energy, M: Materials and S: Services)' database published by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provides employment estimates, including manufacturing sector, at all-India level.

Further, she told the House that as per the latest annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reports, the estimated female Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons of age 15 years and above, during 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 was 28.7 per cent, 31.4 per cent, 31.7 per cent, 35.9 per cent and 40.3 per cent, respectively.


Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the labour ministry had dismissed a media report which raised doubt on accuracy of official jobless data.

The ministry said that PLFS is globally recognized as an empirical and statistically robust source of employment and unemployment data in India.

It is based on a large-scale, stratified, multi-stage random sampling framework that covers both rural and urban regions across the country, it said.

Since January 2025, PLFS has transitioned to generating monthly estimates in addition to its existing annual and quarterly outputs, enabling timely and granular tracking of labour market trends, it stated.

The PLFS methodology is aligned with international standards, particularly the definitions and classifications prescribed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), such as Usual Principal Status (UPS) and Current Weekly Status (CWS).

Its data collection and reporting protocols are consistent with global practices used by institutions like the World Bank, UNDP, and ILOstat, enhancing its comparability with international datasets, it has stated.

As per PLFS data, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for individuals aged 15 years and above increased from 49.8 per cent in 2017-18 to 60.1 per cent in 2023-24.

During the same period, the Worker Population Ratio rose from 46.8 per cent to 58.2 per cent, while the Unemployment Rate (UR) declined sharply from 6 per cent to 3.2 per cent.

These indicators suggest greater absorption of the workforce into productive employment, the ministry has said.

Notably, it stated that the youth unemployment rate fell from 17.8 per cent to 10.2 per cent, which is lower than the global youth unemployment rate of 13.3 per cent as per ILO's World Employment and Social Outlook 2024.

These statistics refute the false narrative regarding widespread youth disengagement, and substantiate stronger labour market participation, the ministry had said.