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Income in India discusses the financial state inIndia. With rising economic growth, India's income is also rising. As an overview, India's per capitanet national income or NNI is around ₹2,05,324 in 2024-25.[1] Theper capita income is a crude indicator of the prosperity of a country. According to a 2021 report by thePew Research Center, India has roughly 1.2 billion lower-income individuals, 66 million middle-income individuals, 16 millionupper-middle-income individuals, and barely 2 million in the high-income group.[2] According toThe Economist, 78 million of India's population are consideredmiddle class as of 2017, if defined using the cutoff of those making more than $10 per day, a standard used by India's National Council of Applied Economic Research.[3] According to theWorld Bank, only a little less than 90% of India's population lived on less than $10 per day, and more than 95% lived on less than $20 per day in 2021.[4]
| 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 | |
| 2024-25 | 234,859 | 231,462 | 205,324 | 133,501 | 131,556 | 114,710 |
| 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 |
TheInternational Labour Organization in its reportIndia Employment Report 2024: Youth Employment, Education and Skills states that the average earning of regular salaried workers (₹19,010) was considerably higher than those of self-employed (₹11,973) and casual (₹8,267) workers in 2022.[7]
| 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 |
| Employment | Number (million) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Self-employed | 304.1 | 55.8% |
| Regular salaried | 118.1 | 21.5% |
| Casual | 122.2 | 22.7% |
India's nominalper capita income was US$2,878 per year in 2025, ranked 136th out of 188 countries by theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF).[9] On the other hand in terms of gdp per capita ppp it was $12,132 which ranked 119th out of 187 countries. Other estimates for per capita gross national income and gross domestic product vary by source. For example, India's average GDP per capita on a PPP basis in 2009, according toThe Economist, was US$5,138, with significant variation among its states and union territories.Goa had the highest per capita PPP GDP at US$47,713 which is higher thanSlovakia whileBihar had the lowest with a per capita PPP GDP of US$3,742 which is lower thanUganda as of 2025[10] In rupee terms, India's per capita income grew by 10.4% to reach ₹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 toCensus of India.[11]
Estimates for average household income and the size of India's middle-income households vary by source. Using the World Bank's definition of middle-income families to be those with per capita income between $10 and $50 per day,[12] the National Council of Applied Economic Research[13] 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 Middle-Income population to be about 70 million in 2009–2010.[14] 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.[15]
Compared to other countries,income inequality in India is relatively small as measured byGini coefficient. India had a Gini coefficient of 32.5 in the year 1999- 2000;[16] India's nominal Gini index rose to 36.8 in 2005, while real Gini after tax remained nearly flat at 32.6.[17]
The states of India have significant disparities in their average income.[18]Bihar was by far the poorest in India, with a gdp per capita of $1000. Income was low in even within its neighbouring states who are also among India’s poorest regions such asUttar Pradesh,Jharkhand,Jammu and Kashmir,Assam,Manipur, andNagaland.[19] The higher income regions includeGoa,Delhi,Haryana,Sikkim,Telangana,Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu,Gujarat,Himachal Pradesh,Punjab,Uttarakhand, andKerala.[20][21][22]
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 up more than two-thirds of the Indian GDP, even though less than a third of the population lives in them.[24]
TheEconomic Survey of India 2007 byOECD 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".[24]
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.
| Income Group | No. of taxpayers(inlakhs) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to ₹5 lac | 445 | ||||||||
| ₹5-10 lac | 101 | ||||||||
| ₹10-20 lac | 32.11 | ||||||||
| ₹20-50 lac | 12.31 | ||||||||
| ₹50 lac to ₹1 crore | 2.25 | ||||||||
| Over ₹1 crore | 1.08 | ||||||||
Source: IT Department | |||||||||
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.
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
