**Executive Summary**
This document is a response to questions raised in Lok Sabha regarding the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025. It details improvements in the PLFS methodology, including frequency, coverage, and dissemination. The document also addresses the significance of the updated National Industrial Classification (NIC)-2025 for future statistical surveys. The response is to be answered on December 17, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Labour Market Indicators:**
* Estimates of Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) for rural, urban, and rural+urban areas are provided for October 2025.
* Data is segmented by gender and includes individuals aged 15 years and above at the all-India level.
* **Improvements to PLFS Methodology:**
* The sampling design has been revamped starting January 2025 to provide more frequent labor market indicators with increased coverage.
* Monthly estimates of LFPR, WPR, and UR are now available at the all-India level using the CWS approach. Monthly bulletins from April 2025 to October 2025 have been released.
* Quarterly estimates of employment-unemployment indicators are available for both rural and urban areas nationwide. Quarterly bulletins for April-June 2025 and July-September 2025 have been released.
* The district has been made the primary geographical unit for sample selection, increasing the representativeness of estimates.
* The sample size increased to 22,692 First Stage Units (FSUs) and the number of sample households has increased from 8 to 12.
* **Timely Dissemination:**
* PLFS results are released according to the Advance Release Calendar (ARC) on the MoSPI website.
* **National Industrial Classification (NIC)-2025:**
* MoSPI released NIC 2025 in November 2025, introducing a new 6-digit coding structure.
* NIC-2025 is meant to improve the accuracy, comparability, and policy utility of labour market and economic statistics.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholders: Government (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation)**
* **Impact**: Responsible for implementing and overseeing the updated PLFS methodology and NIC-2025.
* **Action Required**: Continue monitoring and disseminating PLFS data according to the ARC, and effectively implement NIC-2025 in statistical surveys.
**Stakeholders: Researchers and Policymakers**
* **Impact**: Receive more frequent, comprehensive, and accurate labor market data to inform research and policy decisions.
* **Action Required**: Utilize the updated PLFS data and NIC-2025 to conduct thorough analyses and develop relevant policies.
**Stakeholders: General Public**
* **Impact**: Benefit from improved accuracy and representation of economic activities.
* **Action Required**: Access labor statistics from official MoSPI publications.
Key Entities Referenced
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS): A survey conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to measure key labour market indicators.
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation: The primary government body responsible for conducting the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
National Industrial Classification (NIC)-2025: An updated classification standard used for statistical surveys, replacing NIC 2008.
Current Weekly Status (CWS): An approach used in the PLFS to estimate labour market indicators.
India: The country to which the policy applies.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2819
TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025
PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 2025
2819. SHRI RAMESH AWASTHI:
SHRI HARIBHAI PATEL:
SHRI RAVINDRA SHUKLA ALIAS RAVI KISHAN:
Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be
pleased to state:
(a) the key labour market indicators drawn from the latest Periodic Labour
Force Survey (PLFS) conducted in November 2025;
(b) whether the Government has taken steps to improve the frequency,
coverage and timely dissemination of PLFS data following the
methodological modifications made in the year 2025;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) the significance of the updated National Industrial Classification (NIC)-
2025 for future statistical surveys; and
(e) the manner in which the use of NIC-2025 is likely to enhance the
accuracy, comparability and policy utility of labour market and economic
statistics?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF
STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE
(INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF
STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE [RAO INDERJIT SINGH]
(a): From the latest PLFS Monthly Bulletin for October 2025, the estimates of
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker population Ratio (WPR) and
Unemployment Rate (UR) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) for rural, urban and
rural+urban combined among male, female and person of age group 15 years
and above at all-India level are given in the Table below:
LFPR, WPR and UR (in per cent) according to Current Weekly Status (CWS) for
rural, urban and rural+urban sectors among male, female and person of age
group 15 years and above for October, 2025
LFPR in CWS WPR in CWS UR in CWS
sector
male female person male female person male female Person
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
rural 78.4 38.4 57.8 74.8 36.9 55.2 4.6 4.0 4.4
urban 75.3 25.4 50.5 70.8 22.9 47.0 6.1 9.7 7.0
rural+urban 77.4 34.2 55.4 73.4 32.4 52.5 5.1 5.4 5.2
Source: Monthly Bulletin, PLFS, October, 2025(b) and (c): The sampling design of PLFS has been revamped from January
2025 to address the requirement of high frequency labour market indicators
with enhanced coverage from PLFS. Salient aspects of the change in the
sampling methodology of PLFS are given below:
Frequency: The revamped PLFS sample design has enabled generation of
monthly estimates of key labour market indicators viz., LFPR, WPR and UR at
the all-India level following the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach. The
Monthly Bulletins for the months of April 2025 to October 2025 each have been
released. Upto December, 2024 PLFS provided quarterly labour market
indicators for the urban areas only. In the revamped PLFS, quarterly estimates
of employment-unemployment indicators are available for both rural and urban
areas and hence for the entire country. Quarterly Bulletins for April-Jun 2025
and July-September 2025 have been released.
Coverage: PLFS covers all the States/UTs across the country. In the
revamped PLFS sample design, district has been made the primary
geographical unit, called basic stratum within a State/UT separately for rural
and urban sectors for selecting FSUs for most part of the geography covered.
In the remaining parts, NSS region has been made the basic stratum. This will
ensure presence of sample observations from most of the districts in the PLFS
sample, which will improve the representativeness of the estimates generated.
Further, sample size has been increased to 22,692 First Stage Units (FSUs –
sample villages/ urban blocks/ sub-units) from 12800 FSUs surveyed upto
December 2024 and Sample households have also been increased from 8 to 12
households. The enhanced sample size is expected to provide reliable
estimates of labour market indicators with improved precision.
Timely Dissemination: The results of PLFS are being released in a timely
manner as per the timelines prescribed in the Advance Release Calendar (ARC)
available on the website of MoSPI.
(d) and (e): The ongoing PLFS is being carried out as per NIC 2008. MoSPI has
released the NIC 2025 recently in the month of November 2025. The NIC 2025
introduces a new 6-digit coding structure, in place of the 5-digit structure of
NIC 2008 and represents the latest updated national standard for classifying
economic activities in India which provides a comprehensive and
contemporary framework for all economic activities, capturing the rapid
transformation of Indian economy driven by technological advancement,
innovation, and the emergence of new sectors. This enables better
representation of emerging activities and enhancement of accuracy,
comparability and policy utility of labour market and economic statistics.
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