News Excerpt:
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the latest Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises (ASUSE) report for 2022-23.
Key Highlights of Survey
- Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra had the highest share of informal sector enterprises in both rural and urban areas for 2022-23.
- Uttar Pradesh recorded a 13.83% share of informal sector enterprises in 2022-23, up from 12.99% the previous year.
- West Bengal, the second-highest, saw a slight decrease to 12.04% from 12.31% in 2021-22, while Maharashtra's share increased to 9.37% from 8.81%.
- Notably, the share of informal sector enterprises declined in several states post-pandemic, including Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
- State-wise data indicates that Uttarakhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Jammu & Kashmir had the lowest share of informal sector enterprises.
- However, Delhi saw a significant increase, with its share rising to 1.43% in 2022-23 from 0.64% in 2021-22.
Employment Generation
- In 2022-23, over 10.96 crore workers were employed in the unincorporated non-agricultural sector, including working owners, hired workers, unpaid family members, and others.
- Of these, 5.72 crore were from urban areas, and 5.24 crore were from rural areas. Comparatively, 9.79 crore workers were employed in 2021-22, with 5.03 crore from urban areas and 4.76 crore from rural areas.
Significance of The Sector
- The unincorporated non-agricultural sector is crucial to the Indian economy, significantly contributing to employment, Gross Domestic Product, and the overall socio-economic environment.
- This sector supports the incorporated sector by acting as suppliers and service providers, forming an integral part of the domestic value chain.
Resilient Growth of the Sector:
- The results highlight the resilience of the unincorporated sector following the COVID pandemic.
- The total number of establishments in the sector increased from 5.97 crore in 2021-22 to 6.50 crore in 2022-23, representing a 5.88% annual growth.
- During this period, the Gross Value Added (GVA), a key indicator of economic performance, saw an annual growth of 9.83%.
- Major contributors to this GVA growth were the manufacturing and other services sectors, with manufacturing GVA increasing by 19.14% annually and other services GVA growing by 18.90%.
Expanding Labour Market
- The unincorporated non-agricultural sector employed about 11 crore workers from October 2022 to September 2023, up from 9.8 crore in 2021-22, showing a healthy labour market growth of 7.84% annually.
- The other services sector saw the maximum annual growth in employment (13.42%), followed by the manufacturing sector (6.34%).
- The survey shows that the average annual earnings for informal workers rose to Rs. 1,10,982 in 2022-23 from Rs. 1,06,381 in 2021-22, reflecting improved wage conditions in the informal sector.
Improved Productivity:
- Gross Value Added (GVA) per worker, a measure of labour productivity, rose to Rs. 1,41,769 in 2022-23 from Rs. 1,38,207 in 2021-22.
- During the same period, the Gross Value of Output (GVO) per establishment increased from Rs. 3,98,304 to Rs. 4,63,389, indicating increased productivity with more efficient use of resources, including labour, which is critical for sustained economic growth and competitiveness.
