India Employment Report 2024

Youth employment, education and skills

Data extracted from the ILO–IHD joint report. Browsable tables, interactive charts, and state-wise comparisons.

Labour Market Youth Policy

Source: International Labour Organization (ILO) & Institute for Human Development (IHD) · Published: 2024 · License: CC BY 4.0
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Report Table of Contents

Read the full chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the 342-page report. Each page contains extracted content from the ILO–IHD report.

Executive Summary

Key findings and policy pointers at a glance.

1. Introduction

Context, economic growth, and the employment challenge.

2. Trends, Emerging Characteristics & Current Challenges

Labour force, employment, unemployment, underemployment, quality, and COVID-19 impact.

3. Growth and Employment

GVA, productivity, and sectoral analysis.

4. Youth Employment

Demographics, participation, quality, and COVID-19 impact.

5. Education and Links with Employment

Education profile, returns, and mismatch.

6. Skills and Active Labour Market Policies

Skills development, training, and job search assistance.

7. The Future of Jobs for Youth

Policy agenda and the way ahead.

🔴 COVID-19 Impact (Cross-Chapter)

Combined analysis of COVID-19's impact on employment, youth, and labour market trends.

Key Findings at a Glance

90.3%

Informal Employment

↓ Only 9.7% formal (2022)

12.4%

Youth Unemployment

↑ From 5.7% in 2000

17.2%

Urban Youth Unemployment

↑ Nearly 1 in 5 urban youth

84.9M

Young Women NEET

↑ 95% of all NEET youth

₹19,010

Regular Worker Wage

vs ₹8,267 casual (2022)

States Ranked

Employment Condition Index

Data Explorer

Employment Status in India (2000–2022)

Youth Unemployment Rate (2000–2022)

Note: The Indian labour market is highly informal — around 90% of workers are informally employed. Women’s labour force participation is very low (~25%). The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp reversal toward agriculture in rural areas. Educated youth have unemployment rates exceeding global averages.

The Employment Condition Index combines multiple labour market indicators (wages, formalization, social security, unemployment, NEET rates) into a single score. Higher = better conditions.

State	2005 Score	2005 Rank	2012 Score	2012 Rank	2019 Score	2019 Rank	2022 Score	2022 Rank	Change
Delhi	0.60	1	0.70	1	0.61	1	0.79	1	+0.19
Himachal Pradesh	0.56	2	0.65	2	0.57	2	0.67	2	+0.11
Telangana	0.51	5	0.55	4	0.42	16	0.60	3	+0.09
Uttarakhand	0.55	3	0.54	6	0.49	9	0.59	4	+0.04
Gujarat	0.49	7	0.52	10	0.51	6	0.57	5	+0.08
Kerala	0.34	20	0.46	14	0.50	7	0.56	6	+0.22
Tamil Nadu	0.48	9	0.50	12	0.52	5	0.56	7	+0.08
Jammu & Kashmir	0.53	4	0.53	9	0.52	4	0.55	8	+0.02
Rajasthan	0.49	6	0.51	11	0.43	15	0.55	9	+0.06
Maharashtra	0.47	10	0.54	5	0.48	10	0.55	10	+0.08
Andhra Pradesh	0.43	15	0.48	13	0.44	14	0.54	11	+0.11
Haryana	0.48	8	0.56	3	0.53	3	0.54	12	−0.02
Assam	0.39	18	0.40	19	0.44	13	0.54	13	+0.15
Karnataka	0.46	11	0.53	8	0.49	8	0.54	14	+0.08
Chhattisgarh	0.44	14	0.44	16	0.46	12	0.54	15	+0.10
Punjab	0.45	13	0.54	7	0.48	11	0.53	16	+0.08
West Bengal	0.35	19	0.41	18	0.42	17	0.51	17	+0.16
Madhya Pradesh	0.45	12	0.45	15	0.41	18	0.49	18	+0.04
Uttar Pradesh	0.40	17	0.41	17	0.38	19	0.49	19	+0.09
Jharkhand	0.42	16	0.39	20	0.36	20	0.49	20	+0.07

Employment Condition Index by State (2022)

Youth Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET)

Key insight: 17.9% of Indian youth are NEET. Of these, 84.9 million are young women — accounting for 95% of all NEET youth. Most are engaged in domestic duties. This is a massive structural challenge for labour force participation and gender equity.

Labour Force Participation by Gender (2022)

Sectoral Employment Growth Rates (%)

Structural shift: After 2019, agriculture saw a massive reversal with 8.93% growth in employment (likely distress-driven, not productivity-driven). Construction grew steadily (9.15%, 2.18%, 6.37%). Services boomed pre-COVID (10.80%) but slowed to 1.09% post-2019.

Sector	2000–2012	2012–2019	2019–2022
Agriculture	−0.39%	−2.55%	+8.93%
Manufacturing	+2.89%	−0.33%	+3.00%
Construction	+9.15%	+2.18%	+6.37%
Services	−0.67%	+10.80%	+1.09%
Non-agriculture (total)	+3.86%	+2.09%	+2.61%

Average Monthly Earnings by Employment Type (2022, ₹)

Wage inequality: Regular workers earn 2.3× more than casual workers and 1.6× more than the self-employed. Gender gaps are largest among the self-employed, followed by casual workers. The rural–urban gap in regular earnings declined over time, but widened for casual and self-employment.

Employment Type	Average Monthly Earnings (2022)
Regular salaried workers	₹19,010
Self-employed	₹11,973
Casual workers	₹8,267

Policy Pointers from the Report

1. Promote Job Creation

The economy is not generating enough suitable employment for the increasing number of educated youth. Manufacturing and services need targeted investment.

2. Improve Employment Quality

90% informal employment means no social security, no contracts, no stability. Formalization and labour protection must be priorities.

3. Address Labour Market Inequalities

Women’s LFPR is ~25%. NEET rates are overwhelmingly female. Caste, region, and gender gaps persist and must be actively tackled.

4. Strengthen Skills & ALMPs

Technical and vocational training reach is low. Skill mismatch is a major driver of educated youth unemployment. PMKVY, DDU-GKY need scaling.

5. Bridge Knowledge Deficits

Policymakers lack timely, granular labour market data. The Periodic Labour Force Survey is a step forward, but more disaggregated tracking is needed.