NSO releases first-ever district-level estimates for the unincorporated non-agricultural sector from ASUSE 2025
On 10 September 2026, the National Statistics Office released, for the first time, district-level estimates for India's unincorporated non-agricultural sector, drawn from the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025.
Summary
The National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released on 10 September 2026 the first-ever district-level estimates from a nation-wide enterprise survey, covering India's unincorporated non-agricultural sector. Based on ASUSE 2025 data, the report shows that the top 50 districts by number of establishments account for nearly one-third of total establishments, workforce and Gross Value Added. Roughly one-third of all districts have more than one lakh unincorporated establishments each; women make up one-third of the sector's workforce in 237 districts; and GVA per worker exceeds the all-India average in 280 districts. MoSPI had earlier profiled the sector across 46 million-plus cities.
Key facts
- Release
- 10 Sep 2026, NSO (MoSPI)
- Data
- ASUSE 2025
- First
- First-ever district-level estimates from a nation-wide enterprise survey
- Top 50 districts
- ~One-third of establishments, workforce and GVA
- Women
- One-third of workforce in 237 districts
- Productivity
- GVA per worker above national average in 280 districts
Practice MCQs 3 questions
The first-ever district-level estimates for the unincorporated non-agricultural sector released by NSO in September 2026 are based on which survey?
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Correct answer: B — ASUSE 2025
The district-level report draws on Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025 data.
According to NSO's district-level estimates (September 2026), the top 50 districts by number of unincorporated establishments account for about what share of total establishments, workforce and GVA?
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Correct answer: C — One-third
The top 50 districts account for nearly one-third of total establishments, workforce and Gross Value Added.
Consider the following findings of NSO's district-level estimates for the unincorporated sector (September 2026): 1. In 237 districts, women constitute one-third of the workforce in the unincorporated sector. 2. GVA per worker exceeds the all-India average in fewer than 100 districts. Which of the above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: A — 1 only
Only statement 1 is correct. Women form one-third of the workforce in 237 districts, and GVA per worker exceeds the all-India average in 280 districts.