The first-ever district-level estimates of the unincorporated non-agricultural sector reveal a sharp concentration of economic activity across districts, with the top 50 districts driving nearly one-third of the sector’s activity, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said on Thursday.
The top 10 districts in India by the estimated number of unincorporated establishments, together account for about one-tenth of the total establishments, workers, and Gross Value Added (GVA) generated by the sector, the ministry said.
The top 10 districts were spread across Gujarat, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal, while the top 50 districts were spread across just 12 states.
District-level estimates reveal significant regional patterns in female entrepreneurship. The top 10 districts with the highest share of female-led unincorporated establishments were located in Telangana, Manipur and Meghalaya. In Mizoram, female-owned proprietary establishments accounted for at least 50% of establishments in each district of the state.
“A similar pattern is observed in the participation of women in the workforce,” the ministry said. Top ten districts with the highest share of female workers are located in Telangana, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram, reflecting the significant role played by women in the unincorporated sector in these states.
Women comprised one-third of the total workforce in the informal sector in 237 districts, while in 25 districts female workers constituted more than 50% of the workforce, the report said.
The district-level distribution also reveals considerable variation in the scale of the unincorporated sector across the country, the ministry said. Around one-third of all districts have more than one lakh unincorporated establishments per district.
About 9% of the districts have fewer than 10,000 establishments per district. Only 16 districts have more than 5 lakh unincorporated establishments per district.
In terms of productivity, districts showed high variations in performance. In 280 districts, the GVA per worker exceeded the all-India average of Rs 1,56,539, indicating relatively higher levels of economic productivity in these districts. GVA per worker is estimated to be between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh in about 331 districts.
“The importance of granular and high-frequency data has grown significantly in recent years, reflecting the increasing need for evidence-based policymaking and targeted interventions. In particular, sub-state-level statistics play a crucial role in identifying regional variations, emerging strengths and areas requiring attention, thereby enabling more targeted and area-specific policy interventions,” the statistics ministry said.