(Reference & Survey period: October 2023 to September 2024)
Unincorporated Sector has witnessed significant growth in estimated number of establishments (by 12.84%), estimated number of workers (by 10.01%) and in GVA (by 16.52%; in current price) during October, 2023– September, 2024 as compared to October, 2022 – September, 2023.
Over the two survey periods, the sector has demonstrated enhanced capital investment, greater accessibility to loans, and stronger trend toward digital adoption.
About 58% of the establishments were headed by female proprietors in the Manufacturing sector during the survey period, an increase of 4 percentage points from the previous year.
More than 37% of the establishments were registered with at least one act/authority.
The key results of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) for the reference period of October 2023 to September 2024 (ASUSE 2023-24) in the form of a factsheet were released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), on 24thDecember 2024 through a press note, accompanied by a press conference. The detailed report and unit level data of the survey is now being released through this press note. These are now available in the website of the Ministry (https://www.mospi.gov.in).Further, interactive tables and visualizations on ASUSE 2021-22 and 2022-23 results may be accessed on the Data Catalogue section of https://esankhyiki.mospi.gov.in/.
A brief overview of the survey in terms of coverage, sampling strategy, data collection mechanism, etc., is provided in the Endnote.
The unincorporated non-agricultural sector holds significant importance in the Indian economy, primarily due to its ability to absorb a significant portion of the country’s workforce, its inclusivity in providing employment opportunities to a diverse range of people and also for its contribution to country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Key highlights from ASUSE 2023-24 results
The total number of establishments in the sector increased substantially from 6.50 crore in 2022-23 to 7.34 crore in 2023-24, representing a healthy12.84% growth[2]. Among the broad sectors covered, the number of establishments in the “Other Services” sector recorded a growth of 23.55% followed by a 13% increase witnessed in the manufacturing sector. Around39% of the establishments in this sector were engaged in either retail trade (around 27%) or manufacturing of wearing apparel (around 12%)according to ASUSE 2023-24. Among the major states, highest number of establishments (rural and urban combined) has been reported in Uttar Pradesh, followed by West Bengal and Maharashtra during the same period.
The Gross Value Added (GVA[3]) which is a key indicator of economic performance rose by16.52% driven by a 26.17% growth in other services sector.The top three states in terms of GVA were Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat during ASUSE 2023-24.
The unincorporated non-agricultural sector employed more than 12 crore workers between October 2023 and September 2024, marking an increase of more than one crore workers from 2022-23 and reflecting robust labour market growth. More than one-third of this workforce was engaged in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. Proportion of female workers to total workers has increased from 25.63% in ASUSE 2022-23 to 28.12% in ASUSE 2023-24. About 58% of the establishments were headed by female proprietors in the Manufacturing sector during the survey period.
Figure 1 illustrates the percentages of female headed proprietary establishments across different broad activity categories over the two survey periods (ASUSE 2022-23 and ASUSE 2023-24).
Among the activity categories, it is observed thatother retail trade, followed by manufacturing of wearing apparel and other community, social and personal services have reportedthe most number of establishments and engaged maximum number of workers at all-India level in ASUSE 2023-24. The percentage share of these three activity categories in estimated number of total establishments and total workers are given in Table 1.
| Table1: Percentage share of establishments and workers in respect of top 3 activity categories
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| Activity Category | Number of Establishments | Number of Workers | ||
| ASUSE 22-23 | ASUSE 23-24 | ASUSE 22-23 | ASUSE 23-24 | |
| Other Retail Trade | 30.38 | 27.07 | 29.80 | 27.46 |
| Manufacture of Wearing Apparel | 11.27 | 12.17 | 8.39 | 9.22 |
| Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activities | 9.47 | 10.90 | 8.19 | 8.93 |
Percentage ofregistered establishments has increased marginally from 36.80% in ASUSE 2022-23 to 37.20% in ASUSE 2023-24 thus showing an increasing trend of registration in the sector.
Use of internet, for entrepreneurial purpose, has increased from 13.50% in 2022-23 to 17.90% in 2023-24 in rural and from 30.20% to 37.00% in urban sector. Overall, it increased from 21.10% to 26.70% during ASUSE 2023-24 as compared to ASUSE 2022-23. Among the broad activity categories, about 35% of trading establishments used internet for entrepreneurial purpose, an increase of 10 percentage points from ASUSE 2022-23. This substantial growth reflects a strong trend toward digital adoption among establishments, highlighting the increasing reliance on the internet for business operations.
Figure 2, given below shows the change in usage of internet in ASUSE 2023-24 as compared to ASUSE 2022-23 by type of establishment.
Fixed assets owned by an unincorporated non-agricultural establishment, on average, has risen from Rs. 3,18,144 in ASUSE 2022-23 to Rs. 3,24,075in ASUSE 2023-24 showing an improved capital investment in the sector. At the same time, Outstanding Loan per establishment has increased from Rs. 50,138 in ASUSE 2022-23 to Rs. 53,710in ASUSE 2023-24, indicating an improvement in availability of loan in this sector.
Endnote: A brief about the coverage, sampling scheme, sample size and data collection mechanism in the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE):
A. Coverage of ASUSE:
A.1. Geographically, ASUSE covers the rural and urban areas of whole of India (except some of the villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are difficult to access).
A.2. Sector-wise, this survey captures unincorporated non-agricultural establishments belonging to three sectors viz., Manufacturing, Trade and Other Services.
A.3. Ownership-wise, unincorporated non-agricultural establishments pertaining to proprietorship, partnership (excluding Limited Liability Partnerships), Self-Help Groups (SHG), co-operatives, societies/trusts etc. have been covered in ASUSE.
B. Sampling Scheme:
The survey has been conducted following a multi-stage stratified sampling scheme, where first stage units (FSUs) are census villages in rural area (except for rural Kerala, where Panchayat wards have been taken as FSUs) and UFS (Urban Frame Survey) blocks in urban areas. The ultimate stage units (USUs) are establishments for both the sectors. In the case of large FSUs, one intermediate stage of sampling has been done in the form of hamlet groups in rural and sub-blocks in urban.
C. Sample Size:
In 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).
D. Data Collection Mechanism:
ASUSE 2023-24 has been conducted based on area frame and establishments have been listed in the selected FSUs of both rural and urban sector. Mostly, data were collected from the selected establishments through oral enquiry pertaining to the ‘monthly’ reference period barring a few big establishments, which had provided annual data from their audited Books of Accounts. The data for the survey were collected in Tablet using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).
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