In this page: Economic Outline | Political Outline | COVID-19 Country Response
For the latest updates on the key economic responses from governments to address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, please consult the IMF's policy tracking platform Policy Responses to COVID-19.
According to the IMF, the Indian economy grew by an estimated 9.5% in 2021, mainly driven by strong exports and domestic private investment. The measures put in place by the government to contain the virus have aggravated pre-existing issues throughout the country. Private consumption is likely to recover slowly due to a weak outlook, as an increase in unemployment brought by the pandemic sent millions of migrant workers back to rural areas, as jobs in cities were lost. Still, according to the IMF, the economy is expected to continue a steady growth in the coming years, registering an estimated GDP growth of 8.5% in 2022 and 6.6% in 2023.
India’s broad range of fiscal stimuli and health responses to the pandemic have proven their effectiveness in 2021, as they supported the country's continuing recovery and helped to mitigate the long lasting impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. The country’s general government deficit stood at -9.4% by the end of 2021, and should decrease slightly in 2022 and 2023, reaching -9.2% and -8.6%, respectively. According to the IMF, the inflation decreased to 5.6% in 2021, and is expected to decrease to 4.9% in 2022 and 4.3% in 2023. The level of public debt remains high - it was estimated at 90.6% in 2021 - but is expected to decrease in the next two years, to 88.8% in 2022 and 88.1% in 2023. The government is focused on reducing inequality, as it seeks to implement growth oriented reforms to get the economy back on track, such as MSME incentives, infrastructure sector boost, agriculture infrastructure, micro food enterprises, increased public employment outlay, and special liquidity window. According to the government, the MSME sector is crucial for the inclusive growth of the economy and, as such, it's become a major priority, with various programmes for the development and promotion of MSMEs being put in place across the country.
India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country by 2024. It has the world’s largest youth population, nevertheless, according to the OECD, over 30% of India's youth are NEETs (not in employment, education or training). India continues to suffer from a low GDP per capita (USD 2,098), and almost 25% of the population still lives below the poverty line (about one-third of the world’s population living on under USD 1.90/day lives in India) and the country's inequalities are very strong: the richest 1% of the population own 53% of the country’s wealth. Additionally, the informal sector, where the vast majority of India’s labour force is employed, has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing their risk of slipping back into poverty. According to the CMIE, India's unemployment rate stood at 7.7% of total labour force in 2021.
Main Indicators | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 (e) | 2022 (e) | 2023 (e) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GDP (billions USD) | 2,870.50 | 2,660.24 | 2,946.06 | 3,250.08 | 3,515.19 |
GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) | 4.0 | -7.3 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 7.1 |
GDP per Capita (USD) | 2,099e | 1,930e | 2,116 | 2,313 | 2,479 |
General Government Balance (in % of GDP) | -7.4 | -8.9e | -9.4 | -9.2 | -8.6 |
General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) | 74.1 | 89.6e | 90.6 | 88.8 | 88.1 |
Inflation Rate (%) | 4.8 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 4.9 | 4.3 |
Current Account (billions USD) | -24.55 | 24.01 | -30.37 | -44.64 | -52.04 |
Current Account (in % of GDP) | -0.9 | 0.9 | -1.0 | -1.4 | -1.5 |
Source: IMF – World Economic Outlook Database, October 2021
Note: (e) Estimated Data
India is the world's fourth agricultural power. As a central pillar of the Indian economy, agriculture contributes 18.3% of the GDP and employs 42.6% of the active population. The country's main agricultural products are wheat, millet, rice, corn, sugar cane, tea, potatoes, cotton, bananas, guava, mango, lemon, papaya and chickpea. India is also the fifth largest producer of cattle and sheep, as well as the second largest in fishing production in the world. The spices sector is also very pronounced, particularly the production of ginger, pepper and chili. In 2021, agriculture was a key sector in India’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis as the industry registered a sustained and robust growth. That's because the pandemic led many who lived in India's cities to move back to their ancestral lands, which resulted in a boost of agricultural activity.
The industry sector employs 25.1% of the workforce and accounts for 23.5% of GDP. Coal is the country's main energy source, with India being the world's third largest producer of coal. In the manufacturing industry, textile plays a predominant role, and, in terms of size, the chemical industry is the second largest industrial sector. After a sharp decline in industrial production experienced in the early days of the pandemic, 2021 saw a significant increase in industrial output. Although a rebound in manufacturing was seen throughout the entire secondary sector, the greatest recovery was registered in the cement and steel industries.
The services sector is the most dynamic part of the Indian economy. It contributes to almost half of its GDP (48.8%), but it only employs 32.2% of its workforce. The rapidly growing software sector has been boosting the export of services and modernising the Indian economy: the country has capitalised on its large educated English-speaking population to become a major exporter of IT services, business outsourcing services and software workers. Although the services sector was hit the hardest during the early days of the pandemic, it showed a steady recovery in 2021 as vaccination rates rose and people's mobility increased. The sector's recovery was mainly driven by customer-facing services and air cargo services.
Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
---|---|---|---|
Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment) | 42.6 | 25.1 | 32.3 |
Value Added (in % of GDP) | 18.3 | 23.2 | 49.3 |
Value Added (Annual % Change) | 3.0 | -8.2 | -8.1 |
Source: World Bank, Latest available data.
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The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.
Economic freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Index of Economic Freedom, Heritage Foundation
The business rankings model measures the quality or attractiveness of the business environment in the 82 countries covered by The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Country Forecast reports. It examines ten separate criteria or categories, covering the political environment, the macroeconomic environment, market opportunities, policy towards free enterprise and competition, policy towards foreign investment, foreign trade and exchange controls, taxes, financing, the labour market and infrastructure.
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit - Business Environment Rankings 2020-2024
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Other notable parties:
- All India Trinamool Congress (AITC): centre to centre-right, Bengali nationalist, populist
- Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK): centre-left, social democratic, regionalist
- Biju Janata Dal (BJD): centre to centre-left, social democratic, liberal, populist
- Shiv Sena (SS): far-right, Hindu nationalism, conservative, populist
- Telugu Desam Party (TDP): centre-right, neoliberal, populist, regionalist
- Telegana Rashtra Samithi (TRS): centre-right, regionalist, conservative
- Communist Party of India (CPI): far-left, Communist, Marxist-Leninist
- Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): centre to centre-left, nationalist
- National People's Party (NPP): centre to centre-left, regionalist, ethnocentrist
The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).
Source: World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders
The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.
Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House
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Latest Update: June 2022