The National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Thursday released Quarterly Estimates of the Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Sector for the quarter January to March 2026.
NSO has been publishing quarterly bulletins on key findings from the unincorporated non-agricultural sector since 2025.
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The Quarterly Bulletin on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (QBUSE) for January-March 2026 represents the quarterly edition of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) and provides key estimates at more frequent intervals.
The introduction of QBUSE reflects NSO’s continued efforts to deliver timely and actionable data to policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders on one of the most dynamic segments of the Indian economy, the survey said.
The unincorporated non-agricultural sector recorded a year-on-year growth of 16.69 per cent in the number of establishments, with the estimated number of unincorporated entities rising to 9.16 crore during January-March 2026 compared to 7.85 crore in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year.The rural sector emerged as the primary driver of this growth, registering a notable increase of 20.46 per cent.
The urban sector witnessed a growth of 12.59 per cent during the same period.
Employment in the unincorporated non-agricultural sector reached 15.17 crore in the January-March 2026, crossing the 15-crore mark for the first time.
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The sector recorded a year-on-year growth of 15.51 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year, highlighting its growing significance in generating employment opportunities for a large section of the population across sectors.
Working owners continued to account for the largest share of the workforce in the unincorporated sector for the January-March 2026 quarter, constituting 60.97 per cent of total workers compared to 58.29 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year.
In contrast, the share of hired workers witnessed a marginal decline, falling to 24.77 per cent from 26.86 per cent over the same period.
The growing importance of unincorporated enterprises in supporting the rural economy was further reflected in the robust growth of the rural workforce, which recorded an increase of 21.65 per cent during the period against 10.39 per cent growth in the urban sector.
Many unincorporated units depend on casual labour, migrant workers, and helpers who often shift to seasonal agricultural work and return either as an entrepreneur or as a worker when activity in the sector strengthens, leading to a rise in employment and establishments, according to the survey.
The January-March 2026 quarter witnessed significant growth in the unincorporated services sector, with significant year-on-year expansion in the number of establishments and employment.
The number of establishments increased by 24.82 per cent, while the workforce in the sector grew by 31.13 per cent over the same period.
The strong expansion of the services sector within the unincorporated economy reflects rising entrepreneurial activity in this sector, its growing role as a key driver of employment and increasing demand for local services.
The women workforce remained impressive, constituting about 29 per cent of total employment in the sector.
This is slightly higher than the numbers in the same quarter of ASUSE 2025.
This highlights the growing importance of the sector in generating employment opportunities for women and promoting inclusive economic participation.
Internet usage among enterprises in the unincorporated non-agricultural sector reflects an encouraging trend of digital adoption across establishments in the economy.
Data on ICT usage, collected through the newly revamped ICT module of ASUSE 2026, indicates that around 81 per cent of establishments in the unincorporated sector have used the internet for entrepreneurial purposes.
Further, nearly 81 per cent of establishments have adopted cashless modes of transaction, including online banking, UPI, POS devices, and other digital payment mechanisms.
The percentage of firms reporting some form of registration was estimated to be 41.37 per cent, reflecting increasing integration of enterprises with regulatory mechanisms.
At the all-India level, 5,998 First Stage Units (2,408 villages in the rural sector and 3,590 UFS blocks in the urban sector) have been surveyed during the quarter January 2026 – March 2026.
This excludes FSUs of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Ladakh and rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, which are not considered for this quarterly bulletin, as sub-round restrictions were not imposed in these areas while conducting field-work due to arduous field conditions.
Accordingly, the number of establishments surveyed (excluding these states/UTs/areas) and considered for this bulletin is 1,72,845 (74,824 in rural and 98,021 in urban).