Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation stated that India’s Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in usual status for persons of age 15 years and above observed as 59.3% during 2025 and remained stable compared to 2024. The same for male and female stood at 79.1% and 40.0%, respectively, in 2025. Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in usual status for persons of age 15 years and above estimated as 57.4% during 2025, remaining almost at the same level as in 2024. In 2025, the WPR for male and female was 76.6% and 38.8%, respectively. Earnings of workers have shown a notable improvement in recent years, the ministry noted.

Among male, 69.8% reported want to continue studies as the main reason for not being in the labour force, whereas among female, 44.4% cited child care/personal commitments in home-making as the main reason. Among male aged 15 years and above, about 82.7% of those with a diploma/certificate, 79.1% of those with graduation and 83.1% of those with post-graduation and above as their highest level of education were in the workforce. The share of self-employed persons has shown a gradual decline from 2023 to 2025, decreasing from 58.2% in 2023 to 57.5% in 2024 and further to 56.2% in 2025.

The rural male labour force participation remained strong at 80.5% while rural female participation held steady at 45.9%, sustaining the gains achieved in previous years. Both male and female labour force participation rates based on usual status in 2025 remained broadly consistent with the levels observed in 2024 in urban areas.

The WPR shows a broad stability in 2025 compared with 2024. In 2025, WPR for rural male remained robust at 78.4%, while WPR for rural female held steady at 44.9%, sustaining the significant gains made since 2022. The overall urban WPR maintained nearly at 50.0%.

The Unemployment Rates or UR estimates indicate sustained progress in reducing unemployment across sectors and genders. Overall rural unemployment rates in 2025 stood at 2.4%, showing strong rural labour absorption. The female unemployment rate remained low at 2.1% lower than the male UR in rural areas which stood at 2.6%. The male and female unemployment eased to 4.2% and 6.4%, respectively in urban areas contributed marginal decrease in overall urban UR to 4.8%.

The percentage distribution of workers (in usual status) by industry of work reflects a broadly stable sectoral composition in 2025 with some notable shifts. Agriculture continues to account for the largest share of employment, though it has decreased from 44.8% in 2024 to 43.0% in 2025. The share of employment in construction has decreased marginally (12.3% to 12.0%), while manufacturing has seen improvement from 11.6% to 12.1%. Other services have also recorded an increase (12.2% to 13.1%).

Earnings of workers have shown a notable improvement in recent years across categories, with gains observed for both male and female in nominal terms. In regular wage/salaried employment, average earnings for male increased from Rs 22,891 in 2024 to Rs 24,217 in 2025 (about 5.8% growth), while for female, earnings rose from Rs 17,126 to Rs 18,353 (about 7.2% growth).

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