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India Economy Atlas
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At a glance/Jobs/Women in work
Jobs · monthly

Female labour force participation rate (15+)

The share of women aged 15 and over who are working or looking for work, all India, current weekly status.

Sep 2026✕ Broken
34.6%
Our last fetch from this source failed (validation failed: jobs.ur.annual: no data; jobs.lfpr.female.annual: no data; jobs.wpr.annual: no data). Showing the last good value.
Previous34.8Aug 2026
A year earlier34.1Sep 2025
Highest35.3Dec 2025
Lowest32.0Jun 2025

Over time

15202530354045Annual, usual status 40.0Urban, quarterly 25.0India, monthly 34.62019202120232025
MoSPI, Periodic Labour Force SurveyCSV
View as a table
PeriodValueStatusBase
2026-0934.6
2026-0834.8
2026-0734.4
2026-0632.7
2026-0532.8
2026-0433.9
2026-0334.4
2026-0235.3
2026-0135.1
2025-1235.3
2025-1135.1
2025-1034.2
2025-0934.1
2025-0833.7
2025-0733.3
2025-0632.0
2025-0533.2
2025-0434.2
2026 Apr-Jun25.0current weekly status, urban
2026 Jan-Mar25.4current weekly status, urban
2025 Oct-Dec25.5current weekly status, urban
2025 Jul-Sep25.8current weekly status, urban
2025 Apr-Jun25.6current weekly status, urban
2024 Oct-Dec25.2current weekly status, urban
2024 Jul-Sep25.5current weekly status, urban
2024 Apr-Jun25.2current weekly status, urban
2024 Jan-Mar25.6current weekly status, urban
2023 Oct-Dec25.0current weekly status, urban
2023 Jul-Sep24.0current weekly status, urban
2023 Apr-Jun23.2current weekly status, urban
2023 Jan-Mar22.7current weekly status, urban
2022 Oct-Dec22.3current weekly status, urban
2022 Jul-Sep21.7current weekly status, urban
2022 Apr-Jun20.9current weekly status, urban
2022 Jan-Mar20.4current weekly status, urban
2021 Oct-Dec20.2current weekly status, urban
2021 Jul-Sep19.9current weekly status, urban
2021 Apr-Jun20.1current weekly status, urban
2021 Jan-Mar21.2current weekly status, urban
2020 Oct-Dec20.6current weekly status, urban
2020 Apr-Jun19.6current weekly status, urban
2020 Jan-Mar21.9current weekly status, urban
2019 Oct-Dec21.1current weekly status, urban
2019 Jul-Sep20.3current weekly status, urban
2019 Apr-Jun19.0current weekly status, urban
2019 Jan-Mar19.1current weekly status, urban
2018 Oct-Dec19.5current weekly status, urban
2018 Jul-Sep19.6current weekly status, urban
2018 Apr-Jun18.8current weekly status, urban
202540.0usual status, calendar year
202440.3usual status, calendar year
2023-2441.7usual status, financial year
2022-2337.0usual status, financial year
2021-2232.8usual status, financial year
2020-2132.5usual status, financial year
2019-2030.0usual status, financial year
2018-1924.5usual status, financial year
2017-1823.3usual status, financial year
Why it matters

A low rate means many women are outside paid work altogether, which matters for household incomes and growth as well as for equality.

What it leaves out

Unpaid work at home does not count as participation.

RelatedUnemployment →
Past-paper questionsIndian economic data, surveys and reports →Inflation, unemployment and the Phillips curve →Poverty, inequality and human development →
Source · MoSPI, Periodic Labour Force Survey · Official statistics, attributed to MoSPI
Unit · % · as published
Release · Monthly bulletin, mid-month for the previous month.
Last checked · 2026-10-22 · freshness of every number →
Series id · jobs.lfpr.female