Indian economy, in real terms
What a rupee actually buys.
Long-run Indian economic series, compared in what they can buy rather than in nominal rupees, with every source shown.
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Gold and a government salary
A starting central government officer’s month of pay, measured in grams of gold, 1986-87 to 2025-26.
- 2001-02
- 25.4 g
- 2025-26
- 7.5 g
View as a table
| Fiscal year | grams of gold per month |
|---|---|
| 1986-87 | 9.8 |
| 1987-88 | 8.1 |
| 1988-89 | 8.5 |
| 1989-90 | 9.1 |
| 1990-91 | 9.2 |
| 1991-92 | 8.2 |
| 1992-93 | 9.8 |
| 1993-94 | 9.6 |
| 1994-95 | 10.1 |
| 1995-96 | 11.8 |
| 1996-97 | 16.4 |
| 1997-98 | 20.7 |
| 1998-99 | 23.0 |
| 1999-00 | 24.8 |
| 2000-01 | 25.2 |
| 2001-02 | 25.4 |
| 2002-03 | 22.8 |
| 2003-04 | 22.2 |
| 2004-05 | 21.3 |
| 2005-06 | 22.3 |
| 2006-07 | 23.3 |
| 2007-08 | 22.9 |
| 2008-09 | 19.0 |
| 2009-10 | 17.0 |
| 2010-11 | 15.7 |
| 2011-12 | 12.9 |
| 2012-13 | 12.0 |
| 2013-14 | 13.7 |
| 2014-15 | 15.8 |
| 2015-16 | 18.2 |
| 2016-17 | 19.3 |
| 2017-18 | 20.2 |
| 2018-19 | 19.6 |
| 2019-20 | 17.5 |
| 2020-21 | 13.5 |
| 2021-22 | 15.0 |
| 2022-23 | 14.7 |
| 2023-24 | 13.5 |
| 2024-25 | 11.3 |
| 2025-26 | 7.5 (provisional) |
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Government pay after inflation
In 2025-26 rupees, a starting officer’s monthly pay went from ₹32,775 in 1986-87 to ₹88,495, mostly in steps at each Pay Commission.
Mumbai housing and government pay
Between 2010-11 and 2024-25, Mumbai house prices rose about 3.0 times and a starting officer’s pay about 2.8 times.
Borrowing costs and household debt
SBI’s one-year lending rate is 8.70%. Credit to households went from 45.4% of GDP in Apr-Jun 2007 to 49.1% in Jan-Mar 2026.
The rupee and foreign money
A dollar cost ₹12.78 in 1986-87 and ₹88.31 in 2025-26. Reserves are $691.1 billion.
How households save and borrow
Households borrowed 54.8% as much as they added in financial savings in 2023-24, against 27.9% in 1983-84.
The size and shape of the economy
GDP was ₹345.4 lakh crore in 2025-26, and real growth was 7.8%.
Consumer price inflation
Consumer prices were 4.8% higher than a year earlier in Aug 2026.
Banks, money and credit
Bank credit grew 17.1% in 2025-26, to ₹213.6 lakh crore.
Government finances
The Centre’s fiscal deficit was 4.8% of GDP in 2024-25, and its liabilities were 57.6% at the end of 2023-24.
Industrial production
Industrial production was 8.0% higher than a year earlier in Aug 2026.
How households spend
A person in urban India spent ₹6,996 a month in 2023-24, and in rural India ₹4,122.
Wages in rural India
A rural agricultural labourer earned ₹459 a day for men and ₹377 for women in Jul 2026.
How we keep it honest
Real terms, not nominal
A rupee in 1986 is not a rupee today. Each comparison is made in what the money can buy, so a rising number that only kept pace with prices does not look like progress.
Every source in view
Each series says who published it, where the numbers underneath came from, when we retrieved them, and whether a person typed them in from a document.
Nothing invented
Where two series do not share a period, we compare at the coarser one. We never fill a gap with a guess, and figures that may be revised are flagged as provisional.