Over 128.5 million people were employed in the unincorporated units, barring agriculture, in July-September, official data showed on Tuesday.
The statistics ministry said the estimate for this quarter reflects a notable rise over the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises 2023-24 figure of a little over 120 million workers, indicating an overall expansion in employment within the unincorporated non-agricultural sector.
Rise in informal enterprises
The number of establishments in the unincorporated sector, however, increased at a slower sequential rate of 0.37% in July-September quarter, official data released on Tuesday showed. As compared to the negative rate (-2.1%) in the number of workers employed by these units in the April-June quarter, however, the September quarter saw flat growth in worker count.
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There were 79.7 million unincorporated establishments in the July-September quarter, compared with 79.4 millions in April-June. April-June quarter had recorded a quarter-on-quarter growth rate of 1.12% in the number of units.
What did MoSPI say?
“Despite global challenges and trade uncertainties, the unincorporated sector stayed afloat during the July–September quarter,” the ministry said.
According to the NSO, the increasing trend of digitisation in the unincorporated non-agricultural sector is reflected in the rising use of the internet among business units. Internet use increased steadily from respectively 34% and 36% during the last two quarters to 39% during July–September.
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The number of women in the workforce remained impressive, constituting 28.7% of total employment in the sector.
The survey captured unincorporated non-agricultural establishments belonging to three sectors, manufacturing, trade and other services.
The share of establishments in the manufacturing sector increased from 26% to 27%, and that of employment in the manufacturing sector increased from 26% to 28%.