**Policy Summary: Revamped Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)**
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), through the National Statistics Office (NSO), has revamped the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) starting January 2025. This initiative aims to provide more frequent and comprehensive labour market indicators.
**Objectives:**
* Generate monthly estimates of key employment and unemployment indicators—Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR)—at the all-India level using the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.
* Extend quarterly PLFS results to rural areas, enabling quarterly estimates at the country level and for major states (CWS).
* Estimate employment and unemployment indicators annually in both usual status (psss) and CWS, covering both rural and urban areas.
**Key Changes:**
* **Monthly Estimates:** The revamped PLFS will produce monthly estimates of LFPR, WPR, and UR at the all-India level (CWS).
* **Expanded Quarterly Estimates:** Quarterly estimates will now include rural areas, providing a complete national picture.
* **Enhanced Sample Size:** The sample size has been significantly increased. The revamped PLFS plans to survey 22,692 First Stage Units (FSUs) annually (12,504 rural, 10,188 urban), compared to the previous 12,800 FSUs.
* **Household Coverage:** Approximately 12 households will be surveyed per FSU, resulting in a total sample size of approximately 272,304 households, a 2.65-fold increase from the previous coverage of approximately 102,400 households.
**Sampling Design:**
The revamped PLFS uses a multi-stage stratified design. The sampling frame consists of Census 2011 villages and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks (or subunits thereof).
**Intended Impact:**
The increased frequency, expanded coverage, and enhanced sample size are expected to provide more timely, reliable, and precise estimates of labour market indicators, facilitating more effective policy interventions.
**Source:**
This information was provided by Rao Inderjit Singh, 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, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
**Release ID:** 2150169
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Statistics Programme Implementation: The Indian government ministry responsible for statistical data collection and program implementation.
National Statistics Office: NSO, the organization under MoSPI conducting the Periodic Labour Force Survey.
Periodic Labour Force Survey: PLFS, a survey conducted by NSO to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in India.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India, where a question related to the information was answered.
Rao Inderjit Singh: 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.
Current Weekly Status: CWS, a reference period for collecting employment and unemployment data in PLFS.
Census 2011: The most recent census conducted in India, used as a basis for the sampling frame in the PLFS.
Urban Frame Survey: UFS, blocks subunits for villages or UFS blocks where sub units are formed within together formed the sampling frame for selection of the First Stage Units FSUs.
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
REVAMP PLFS
Posted On: 30 JUL 2025 4:11PM by PIB Delhi
National Statistics Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has
been conducting Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) since 2017 to estimate various indicators related to
employment and unemployment in the country. The sampling design of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
has been revamped from January 2025 to address the requirement of high frequency labour market indicators
with enhanced coverage from PLFS. The revamped PLFS is envisaged to address the following objectives:
to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Labour Force Participation
(cid:108)
Rate, Worker Population Ratio, Unemployment Rate) on a monthly basis for rural and urban areas
at all-India level in the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
to extend the coverage of the Quarterly results of PLFS to rural areas and thereby producing
(cid:108)
quarterly estimates at the country level and for major States in the Current Weekly Status (CWS) .
to estimate important employment and unemployment indicators in both usual status (ps+ss) and
(cid:108)
CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.
The revamped PLFS sample design from January 2025 results in the following updation in the PLFS
dissemination:
Availability of monthly estimates of key labour market indicators at the country level: The revamped PLFS
sample design will enable generation of the monthly estimates of key labour market indicators viz. Labour
Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) at the all-
India level following the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach. The monthly estimates will help in timely
policy interventions.
Extending quarterly estimates to rural areas: Upto December, 2024, PLFS provided quarterly labour market
indicators for the urban areas only. With the updation in the PLFS sample design quarterly estimates of
employment unemployment indicators will be available for both rural and urban areas and hence for the entire
country.
Enhanced sample size: The revamped PLFS sample design is a multistage stratified design. List of census
2011 villages / urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks / sub-units (for those villages or UFS blocks where sub-
units are formed within) together formed the sampling frame for selection of the First Stage Units (FSUs). In
the revamped PLFS sample design, a total sample size of 22,692 FSUs is planned to be surveyed (12,504
FSUs in the rural areas and 10,188 in the urban areas) in each year of the two-year panel with first visit
schedule as compared to 12,800 FSUs surveyed in PLFS upto December, 2024.
A total of 12 households will be surveyed from each of the selected FSUs which implies an overall sample
size of around (22,692 x 12) = 2,72,304 households. This marks a 2.65 time increase in sample households to
be covered in PLFS as compared to the number of sample households covered upto December, 2024 (which
was around 1,02,400). The enhanced sample size is expected to provide reliable estimates of labour market
indicators with improved precision.
This information was given by the 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, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
****Samrat/Allen
(Release ID: 2150169)