Quarterly Bulletin of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (QBUSE)
Quarterly Bulletin of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (QBUSE)
Snapshot:
NSO Releases First Quarterly Estimates of the Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Sector for the quarters January to March 2025 and April to June 2025
In line with its commitment to enhancing the availability of high-frequency indicators, the National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has released the first Quarterly Bulletin on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (QBUSE) for the quarters January to March 2025 and April to June 2025. The Quarterly Bulletin (QBUSE) is the quarterly edition of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), presenting key estimates at more frequent intervals. The introduction of QBUSE represents NSO’s sustained effort to bring out timely data and provide access to actionable information to the policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders on one of the most dynamic segments of India’s economy.
While the detailed annual estimates on a larger set of financial and non-financial indicators will continue to be published from ASUSE, the quarterly bulletin is designed to deliver timely and periodic estimates on the scale, composition, and employment perspective of India’s unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises with quarterly frequency between the annual estimates using the same framework as of ASUSE. The quarterly data aim to capture the short‑term dynamics in the unincorporated non-agricultural sector.
The unincorporated non-agricultural sector is a key driver of India’s economy, generating large-scale employment and contributing significantly to GDP. It provides essential livelihood opportunities, fosters small-scale entrepreneurship, and supports local supply chains across rural and urban areas. Recognizing its importance, NSO started conducting ASUSE from 2021-22 annually and so far conducted three annual surveys for the years 2021-22 (Apr 21-Mar22) , 2022-23 (Oct 22-Sept 23) and 2023-24 (Oct 23-Sept 24). These surveys have provided detailed annual insights into the structure and functioning of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises.
This press note is for the first quarterly bulletin for the quarters January, 2025 – March, 2025 and April, 2025 – June, 2025. The quarterly bulletin is available on the website of the Ministry (https://mospi.gov.in).
A brief overview of the coverage, sampling methodology, and data collection mechanism of ASUSE 2025, the data from the first two quarters of which has been used in the preparation of this QBUSE, is provided in the Endnote.
Re-engineering of ASUSE sampling design:
Major changes in Sampling Design
In order to ensure generation of quarterly estimates from ASUSE retaining the core annual framework of the survey, the survey has been re-engineered for ASUSE 2025. The sampling design has been suitably modified to enable quarterly selection of sample units. Also, by making districts within a state as basic stratum, this new sampling strategy has provision for generation of district-level annual estimates by the states participating in the survey. This enhancement facilitates the generation of quarterly estimates from ASUSE 2025, in addition to the annual results. To support this transition, the overall sample size has been increased by about 1.5 times from the ASUSE conducted previously and the survey has been further fine-tuned to ensure the production of robust, reliable, and timely quarterly estimates.
Key highlights of the results for the quarters January – March 2025 and April-June 2025:
Expansion in Establishments:
The total number of establishments in the unincorporated non-agricultural sector rose to 7.94 crore[1] during April–June 2025, compared to 7.85 crore in the previous quarter. This growth was driven primarily by the trade (↑ 3.63%) and other services (↑ 3.13%) sectors, while the manufacturing sector contracted by 4.7% during the same period.
Workforce Trends:
Similar annual estimates from the latest ASUSE (Oct 23- Sept 24)
Employment in the sector crossed the 13 crore mark for the first time in January–March 2025, reaching 13.13 crore—well above all previous ASUSE annual estimates, which had remained below 13 crore. It then eased to 12.86 crore in the April–June quarter. Employment estimates for the unincorporated sector in both the quarters show a substantial increase over the ASUSE 2023–24 annual estimate of just over 12 crore workers, indicating a marked rise in overall employment levels in this sector.
The fluctuation in employment estimates during April–June 2025 is mainly linked to reduction in the number of establishments engaging hired workers and a moderate performance of the unincorporated manufacturing sector in the quarter that witnessed the share of employment of the manufacturing sector falling by more than 2 percentage points in comparison to the previous quarter.
Changing Workforce Composition:
The share of working owners rose from 58.29% in January to March quarter to 60.18% in the subsequent quarter, suggesting a shift towards self-employment and entrepreneurial activities. The shift was particularly evident in manufacturing, where the share of hired workers saw the steepest decline, accompanied by the highest increase in working owners, signalling a strong move towards owner-driven enterprises.
The rural workforce increased from 5.97 crore to 6.25 crore during this period, indicating the rising role of unincorporated enterprises in rural economic activity.
Women’s Participation:
Women accounted for over 28% of the workforce in both quarters, showcasing the sector’s importance as a driver of gender-inclusive growth and entrepreneurship. This is slightly higher than the same observed in ASUSE 2023-24.
Digital Adoption:
Use of Internet:
The April-June 2025 quarter witnessed a rise in the use of the internet to 36.03% from 34.20% in the previous quarter by unincorporated enterprises, reflecting the sector’s gradual digital adoption. This shows that more and more establishments are leveraging online platforms for business operations and transactions highlighting growing digital integration among these enterprises.
Key indicators of QBUSE for the quarters January-March 2025 and April-June 2025 are given in the following table:
Indicator
January-March 2025
April-June 2025
Number of Establishments (in ’00)
7,85,367
7,94,240
Percentage of proprietary and partnership establishments
95.39
95.31
Percentage of hired worker establishments
14.04
13.25
Number of Workers (in ’00)
13,13,380
12,85,725
Percentage share of working owners
58.29
60.18
Percentage share of hired workers
26.86
24.38
Percentage share of other workers (including unpaid family workers)
14.85
15.44
The estimated number of establishments and workers for these two quarters are given in Figure 1:
The percentage share of establishments and workers among Broad Activity Categories (manufacturing, Trade and Other Services) is given in Figure 2 and Figure 3 respectively.
Fig 2: Percentage Share of Establishments among Broad Activity Categories
Fig 3: Percentage Share of Workers among Broad Activity Categories
Endnote: A brief about the coverage, sampling scheme, and data collection mechanism in the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE):
A. Coverage:
A.1. Geographically, the survey covers the rural and urban areas of whole of India (except some of the villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are difficult to access).
A.2. Sector-wise, this survey captures unincorporated non-agricultural establishments belonging to three sectors viz., Manufacturing, Trade and Other Services.
A.3. Ownership-wise, unincorporated non-agricultural establishments pertaining to proprietorship, partnership (excluding Limited Liability Partnerships), Self-Help Groups (SHG), co-operatives, societies/trusts etc. have been covered in this survey.
B. Sampling Scheme:
The survey has been conducted following a multi-stage stratified sampling scheme, where first stage units (FSUs) are census villages in rural area (except for rural Kerala, where Panchayat wards have been taken as FSUs) and UFS (Urban Frame Survey) blocks in urban areas. The ultimate stage units (USUs) are establishments for both the sectors. In the case of large FSUs, one intermediate stage of sampling has been done in the form of hamlet groups in rural and sub-blocks in urban.
C. Sample Size:
At all-India level, 5,885 First Stage Units (2,423 villages in rural sector and 3,462 UFS blocks in urban sector) have been surveyed during the quarter January, 2025 – March, 2025 while 5,893 First Stage Units (2,424 villages in rural sector and 3,469 UFS blocks in urban sector) have been surveyed during the quarter April, 2025 – June, 2025. 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 are 1,64,497 (71,382 in rural and 93,115 in urban) for the quarter January, 2025 – March, 2025 and 1,64,001 (71,486 in rural and 92,515 in urban) for April, 2025 – June, 2025.
D. Data Collection Mechanism:
The survey has been conducted based on area frame and establishments have been listed in the selected FSUs of both rural and urban sector and from the listed establishments in the FSUs, requisite number of establishments were surveyed as per the sampling design. Mostly, data were collected from the selected establishments through oral enquiry pertaining to the ‘monthly’ reference period. The data for the survey were collected in Tablet using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).
E. Comparability of quarterly results with previously released estimates of ASUSE and caveats:
The estimates presented in this quarterly bulletin pertain specifically to the unincorporated non-agricultural sector for the reference quarter under consideration. Although sampling design has been modified to enable generation of quarterly estimates using an area frame, the quarterly sample size is significantly less than the annual sample size. Accordingly, users may interpret quarterly movements with caution, considering potential sampling variability and short-term fluctuations in activity levels. It is important to note that ASUSE covers only a part of the non-agricultural economy, namely, the unincorporated segment of the establishments in manufacturing, trade and services (excluding construction) and, hence, the trends observed in the quarterly results of the unincorporated sector as presented in QBUSE, may not directly align with the corresponding quarterly GDP estimates which covers the entire economy. Where relevant, the estimates presented in the Quarterly Bulletin are accompanied by confidence intervals to enable informed interpretation of the estimates.