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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: The richest Indian households can eat fruit most often, by Nileena Suresh India's richest households are nearly twice as likely to eat fruit every week as those who live in its poorest households. #Fruit #Food #Health #India #DataForIndia

Title: Household weekly food consumption (2021)

Sub-title: The richest Indian households can eat fruit most often

Explanation: Fruit consumption rises sharply with household wealth: 69% of the richest households eat fruit weekly, compared with 52% of middle-income households and 36% of the poorest. Weekly fried food consumption is almost identical across wealth groups, at 43–44%.

Source: National Family Health Survey, International Institute for Population Sciences

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

🧵 In 1950, a child born in India could expect to live only until the age of 41. By 2024, life expectancy at birth in India had risen to 72 years. #LifeExpectancy #Ageing #Population #India #DataForIndia

Title: The female advantage in life expectancy in India appeared only in the 1980s

Sub-title: Life expectancy at birth in India by gender, 1950–2024

Explanation: Life expectancy rose substantially for both women and men, from about 41 years in 1950 to 74 years for women and 71 years for men in 2024. Men had a slightly higher life expectancy until the early 1980s, when women overtook them. The female advantage then widened, reaching more than three years by 2024. Both groups experienced a sharp temporary decline around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations Population Division

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

🧵 More than half of Indian households own a motorcycle or scooter, while less than one in ten own a car or jeep as of 2024. This data comes from the nationally representative Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) conducted by the National Statistics Office. #TwoWheeler #Car #Vehicle

Title: Car ownership has significantly increased only for the richest Indians

Sub-title: Share of car ownership by household economic class, over time

Explanation: In 1988, fewer than 1% of households in every economic class owned a car. By 2024, ownership had risen to about 19% among the richest 20% of households and nearly 6% among the next-richest group. It remained below 3% for the other three groups, showing that the increase was concentrated among richer households.

Source: Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: In most Indian states, 90% of births now take place in healthcare facilities, by Nileena Suresh Institutional births refer to deliveries that take place in a health facility, whether public or private. As of 2021, nearly nine in ten births in India were institutional. #Birth

Title: Share of institutional births in India across states (2021)

Sub-title: Data Byte: In most Indian states, 90% of births now take place in healthcare facilities

Explanation: Most states report institutional birth shares of 80–100%. Meghalaya and Nagaland have the lowest shares, at around 50%, meaning nearly half of births in these two states happen at home.

Source: National Family Health Survey, IIPS

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

UPDATE: Our booth is now on the Ground floor! Come find us at IndiaFOSS 2026 this weekend at NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bengaluru.

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

🧵 We are heading to IndiaFOSS 2026 this weekend! Sept 26–27 at NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bengaluru. #OpenData #PublicData #OpenSource #FOSS #DataForIndia

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

🧵 Obesity is rising in India. In 2021, almost a quarter of adults aged 15–49 were overweight or obese. By 2024, this figure had reached nearly 30%. #Obesity #Overweight #Health #DataForIndia #India

Title: A quarter of all Indian adults are overweight or obese

Sub-title: Share of overweight and obese men and women across sector (2021)

Explanation: Overweight and obesity were more common in urban India than in rural India. Among urban adults, 30% of men and 34% of women were overweight or obese. In rural areas, the corresponding shares were 19% for both men and women. Obesity alone was most prevalent among urban women, at 11%.

Source: National Family Health Survey, International Institute for Population Sciences

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

🧵 Six in ten workers in India are self-employed, making up the largest category of workers. #Employment #SelfEmployment #Work #India #DataForIndia

Title: The less educated are more likely to be self-employed in India

Sub-title: Type of employment, by education level (2024)

Explanation: Self-employment becomes less common as education levels rise, falling from 66% among illiterate workers to 40% among workers with higher education. Salaried work shows the opposite pattern, rising from about 7% among illiterate workers to 58% among those with higher education. Casual work also declines sharply, from 28% to about 2%.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: One in every 250 young men in Punjab and Delhi is in prison, by Ameya Bokil #Prison #Jail #Inmates #Law #India #DataForIndia

Title: Incarceration rate among men aged 18–30 years, 2023

Sub-title: One in every 250 young men in Punjab and Delhi is in prison

Explanation: In 2023, 144 of every 100,000 men aged 18–30 in India were in prison. The rate was nearly three times as high in Punjab and Delhi, at 418 and 423 per 100,000 respectively. This means roughly one in every 250 young men in these two states was incarcerated.

Source: Prison Statistics India, National Crime Records Bureau

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

🧵 One in three young Indians were enrolled in higher education as of 2024. However, this is still below the enrolment rate in higher education of the world on average, as well as that of many developed countries. #Enrolment #Education #HigherEducation #India #DataForIndia

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

🧵 When a country’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) drops to 2.1 children per woman, demographers say it has reached “replacement fertility”. #Fertility #Births #Population #India #DataForIndia

Title: The share of women in the labour force is more than twice as high in Viet Nam as in India, yet fertility rates are similar

Sub-title: Fertility rate and female labour force participation, by country (2022)

Explanation: In 2022, 76% of women in Viet Nam were in the labour force, compared with 32% in India. Despite this large difference, both countries had a total fertility rate of about 1.9 children per woman.

Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: Minimum temperatures in India are rising faster than maximum temperatures, by Juhi Chatterjee #Climate #Temperature #Heat #India #DataForIndia

Title: Annual minimum and maximum temperature anomalies

Sub-title: Minimum temperatures in India are rising faster than maximum temperatures

Explanation: Annual temperature anomalies in India fluctuate considerably from year to year, but both minimum and maximum temperatures have risen over time. The increase has accelerated in recent years, especially for minimum temperatures. In 2024, the minimum temperature anomaly reached about +0.9°C, the highest in the series and more than twice the maximum temperature anomaly of about +0.4°C.

Source: India Meteorological Department

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

🧵 Poverty lines help compare living standards across countries. Since prices of goods and services vary across countries, the World Bank uses purchasing power parities (PPPs) to express them in a common currency. #Poverty #Economy #WorldBank #India #DataForIndia

Title: At the lower-middle-income poverty line, India’s poverty rate is still higher than the world average

Sub-title: Lower-middle-income countries (LMIC) poverty rate by country, over time

Explanation: India’s poverty rate at the lower-middle-income threshold fell from about 83% in 1977 to 24% in 2022, but remained above the world average of about 19% in 2024. China’s rate fell from nearly 100% in the early 1980s to almost zero by 2020.

Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

🧵 The first two years of life are critical for physical growth and brain development, making adequate nutrition essential. #Dairy #Nutrition #Health #India #DataForIndia

Title: Only 2 in 3 children in India who are not breastfed receive the recommended quantity of milk

Sub-title: Milk consumption among children under the age of two (2021)

Explanation: Among children aged 6–23 months, 84% of female children and 85% of male children were breastfed. Among those who were not breastfed, 61% of female children and 64% of male children received the recommended minimum of two or more daily feedings of formula, animal milk or yogurt.

Source: National Family Health Survey, International Institute for Population Sciences

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: More pre-teens in India have used the internet than people in their 40s, by Abhishek Waghmare Internet usage in India is heavily concentrated among younger people. Of the 60% of Indians who had used the internet as of 2025, most are in their teens and twenties. #Internet

Title: Internet usage by age (2025)

Sub-title: More pre-teens in India have used the internet than people in their 40s

Explanation: Internet use rises sharply with age among children, from 8% of those aged 0–4 to 54% of those aged 5–9 and 81% of those aged 10–14. It peaks at 94% among both 15–19- and 20–29-year-olds, then falls steadily with age: 85% for ages 30–39, 65% for 40–49, 43% for 50–59, and 23% for people aged 60 and above.

Source: Comprehensive Modular Survey - Telecom, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

🧵 The quality of our homes is central to our health, comfort, safety and overall well-being. Six in ten Indian households lived in durable houses as of 2021. Another three in ten lived in partially durable houses. #House #Housing #LivingConditions #India #DataForIndia

Title: Six in ten Indian households live in fully durable houses

Sub-title: Share of fully durable houses in India, by state (2021)

Explanation: A choropleth map of India shows the share of households living in fully durable houses across states in 2021. Fully durable housing is more common in relatively prosperous states, with several northern and southern states nearing eight in ten households. The lowest shares are concentrated in the north-eastern states, where hilly and forested terrain, accessibility and connectivity affect the use of durable construction materials.

Source: National Family Health Survey, International Institute for Population Sciences

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

🧵 Manufacturing is a key driver of India’s economy. Organised manufacturing that takes place mainly in factories accounts for 90% of the economic value created within manufacturing. #Factories #Jobs #Manufacturing #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: Contract workers make up a growing share of factory employment in India

Sub-title: Factory employment in India by employee category, over time

Explanation: Factory employment in India rising from around 8 million people in 2001 to 18.5 million in 2023. Directly employed workers remained the largest group, but their share fell from 61% to 47%. Contract workers grew faster, doubling their share from 16% to 32% over the same period. Managers and other employees made up smaller shares of total factory employment.

Source: Annual Survey of Industries, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: Manufacturing has played a shrinking role in most industrialised states in India, by Abhishek Waghmare #Manufacturing #Industry #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: Manufacturing's share of state domestic product over time

Sub-title: Manufacturing has played a shrinking role in most industrialised states in India.

Explanation: Manufacturing's share of state domestic product in five industrialised Indian states from 2012 to 2022. Gujarat is the clear outlier, rising from about 24% in 2012 to around 35% in 2022. The other four states either declined or stayed broadly flat. Maharashtra fell from about 21% to around 16%, Karnataka from about 17% to around 13%, Tamil Nadu from about 20% to around 19%, and Haryana stayed close to 18-19%.

Source: National Accounts Statistics, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

🧵 Having a graduate degree is an important marker of educational achievement, and is linked to greater access to more skilled and better-paying jobs. #Graduates #HigherStudies #Employment #India #DataForIndia

Title: The share of graduates in India's population is higher than in many comparable countries

Sub-title: Share of people aged 25 and above with a bachelor's degree, 2023

Explanation: India stands with 15% of adults aged 25 and above having a bachelor's degree. This is higher than Bangladesh at 8%, Indonesia at 9%, and Viet Nam at 11%, but lower than Italy at 18% and France at 24%. The highest shares shown are in Finland at 30%, Germany at 31%, Canada at 33%, and the United States at 39%.

Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

🧵 Infant mortality, or the death of a child before her first birthday, is a key measure of public health. It reflects the conditions into which children are born, including access to healthcare, nutrition and sanitation. #Infant #Deaths #Mortality #Health #India #DataForIndia

Title: Infant deaths are falling in India, but are increasingly concentrated in the first month after birth

Sub-title: Neonatal and post-neonatal infant mortality per 1,000 live births, over time

Explanation: A stacked area chart shows that India’s infant mortality rate has declined sharply since 1981. Neonatal mortality, or deaths in the first month after birth, has fallen more slowly than post-neonatal mortality. As a result, infant deaths are now increasingly concentrated in the first month after birth.

Source: Annual Statistical Reports, Sample Registration System

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: A higher education is associated with a significant wage premium in India, by Abhishek Waghmare #Education #Salary #Work #India #DataForIndia

Title: Wages of salaried workers by years spent in education (2024)

Sub-title: A higher education is associated with a significant wage premium in India

Explanation: Wages are relatively flat for workers with zero to eight years of education, mostly staying below ₹13,000. They begin to rise more clearly after around 10 years of education, reaching about ₹17,500 for workers with 11 to 12 years of education. Wages increase further for workers with higher education, rising to about ₹22,000 to ₹26,500 for those with 13 to 15 years of education, and nearly ₹40,000 for those with 16 or more years of education.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

🧵 More than one-third of India's manufacturing workforce today, or 23 million workers, is female. #Women #Work #Jobs #Manufacturing #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: More than a third of India’s manufacturing workers are women

Sub-title: Share of women in each state’s manufacturing workforce in 2024

Explanation: A map of India shows that women make up more than one-third of the country’s manufacturing workforce. Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur have among the highest shares, with women accounting for over half of all manufacturing workers. Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are also close to gender parity. Delhi, Haryana and Goa have some of the lowest shares of women in manufacturing.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

🧵 Access to mobile phones and the internet has grown rapidly in India, but many people still lack the technical skills needed to communicate, learn and work effectively using these technologies. #ICT #Technology #DigitalIndia #India #DataForIndia

Title: Only half of all Indian adults can send messages, and a quarter can send emails

Sub-title: ICT skills among Indian adults aged 15+ (2023)

Explanation: Horizontal bar chart showing the share of Indian adults aged 15 and above who reported having different ICT skills in the preceding three months. Sending messages (includes email) is the most common skill, reported by 53% of adults. Sending emails is much lower, at 26%. Around one in five adults can download and install software (23%), transfer files between devices (19%), or connect and install devices (17%). More advanced skills are rarer: 9% can use formulae in spreadsheets, about 6% can create presentations, and about 1% can write programs or code.

Source: Comprehensive Annual Modular Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: The gap in life expectancy between India and the UK has halved since Independence, by Rukmini S In 1950, a child born in India could expect to live only until the age of 41, while a child born in the United Kingdom the same year could expect to live to 69 years. #Population

Title: Life expectancy at birth

Sub-title: The gap in life expectancy between India and the UK has halved since Independence

Explanation: A line chart compares life expectancy at birth in India and the United Kingdom from 1950 to 2024. In 1950, life expectancy was about 41 years in India and 69 years in the UK. Both countries improved over time, but India’s gains were much steeper, rising to about 72 years by 2024. The UK rose more gradually to about 81 years. The gap between the two countries narrowed from nearly three decades in 1950 to less than a decade in 2024. India shows a sharp temporary drop around the COVID-19 pandemic before recovering.

Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations Population Division

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

🧵 India's informal sector has remained large over the last two decades despite economic growth. Nine in ten workers in India work in the informal sector, defined as either share of employment outside the formal sector or as informal employment. #Jobs #InformalSector #Work #India #DataForIndia

Title: Service sectors are more likely to have formal jobs in India

Sub-title: Formal and informal jobs by industry (2024)

Explanation: Construction, trade and hotels, and manufacturing have the largest informal workforces, with 72 million, 71 million, and 57 million informal workers respectively. Manufacturing also has 13 million formal workers. Health and education has a more balanced split, with 14 million formal workers and 13 million informal workers. Service sectors such as information and communication, public administration, and financial services have smaller total workforces but a higher share of formal employment.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office; Population Projections, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

🧵 Over two-thirds of children under the age of five in India were anaemic as of 2021, according to the National Family Health Survey’s (NFHS) 5th round. #Women #Children #Anaemia #Health #India #DataForIndia

Title: Anaemia levels among children in India are notably higher than in comparable countries

Sub-title: Prevalence of anaemia among children aged 6–59 months in India and Rwanda

Explanation: India’s rate declined from about 69% in 2000 to 53% in 2019, but remained higher than Rwanda’s throughout the period. Rwanda’s rate fell more sharply, from about 61% in 2000 to 38% in 2019. Both countries used the capillary method for blood collection.

Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: Most tobacco consumption in India is of gutkha, not cigarettes, by Nileena Suresh #Tobacco #Gutkha #Health #India #DataForIndia

Title: Type of tobacco consumed by men who use tobacco (2021)

Sub-title: Most tobacco consumption in India is of gutkha, not cigarettes

Explanation: The chart compares the type of tobacco consumed by urban and rural men in India who use tobacco. Gutkha or paan masala is the most common form in both groups, at 37%. Cigarettes are more common among urban men, while khaini and bidi are more common among rural men.

Note: Khaini is a mixture of tobacco leaves and slaked lime.

Source: National Family Health Survey, International Institute For Population Sciences

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

🧵 The term 'demographic dividend' refers to a boost in economic growth that a country with a large share of its population in the working age can expect to benefit from, provided the right policies are in operation. #Births #Deaths #Fertility #Population #India #DataForIndia

Title: India’s demographic window is closing

Sub-title: Share in total population by age group, over time

Explanation: Line chart showing the changing share of India’s population in three age groups from 1950 to 2100. The share of working-age people, aged 15-59, rises from 57 in 1950 to a projected peak of about 65% around 2030, before declining to about 50% by 2100. The share of children aged 0-14 falls from around 40% in the 1950s to a projected 14% by 2100. The share of people aged 60 and above rises from about 5% in 1950 to a projected 36% by 2100. Data after 2024 are projections.

Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations Population Division

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

🧵 India has seen a big push towards financial inclusion over the last two decades. Having a bank account is an important first step in that journey, allowing account-holders to receive welfare benefits, save, borrow and invest. #Banking #Bank #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: Indian men hold 50% more bank accounts than women

Sub-title: Number of bank accounts held by individuals in India by gender, over time

Explanation: Line chart showing that the number of bank accounts held by both men and women in India has increased sharply since the early 2000s, but men have consistently held more accounts. By 2025, men held about 1.5 billion bank accounts, compared with just over 1 billion held by women.

Source: Database on Indian Economy, Reserve Bank of India

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: The number of homicide victims in India has fallen, but only for men, by Ameya Bokil #Murder #Homicide #Law #India #DataForIndia

Title: Annual reported victims of homicide

Sub-title: The number of homicide victims in India has fallen, but only for men

Explanation: Annual number of reported homicide victims in India by gender from 1999 to 2022. Reported male victims fell from about 33,000 in 1999 to about 24,000 in 2022, with a sharper drop after 2015. Reported female victims rose from about 15,000 in 1999 to a peak of about 19,000 around 2011, before falling to about 16,000 in 2022.

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

🧵 India is warming, but not evenly. Geography, elevation, land-use patterns, urbanisation and regional climatic conditions all shape how warming is experienced locally, leading to considerable variation across states. #Climate #Temperature #Heat #India #DataForIndia

Title: Between 1970 and 1980, most Indian states recorded temperature anomalies cooler than the baseline…

Sub-title: Mean temperature anomalies (1970–1980)

Explanation: A map of India shows mean temperature anomalies for 1970–1980, compared with the 1991–2020 Long Period Average (LPA). Most of India is shaded blue, indicating cooler-than-baseline temperatures. The strongest cooler anomalies appear across western and central India, while some areas in eastern and central India show small warmer-than-baseline patches.

Source: India Meteorological Department

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

Title: … between 2015 and 2025, most Indian states recorded temperatures warmer than the baseline

Sub-title: Mean temperature anomalies (2015–2025)

Explanation: A map of India shows mean temperature anomalies for 2015–2025, compared with the 1991–2020 Long Period Average (LPA). Most of India is shaded light to dark red, indicating warmer-than-baseline temperatures. The strongest warmer anomalies appear across northern India and parts of the northeast, while a few areas in central India are shaded blue, indicating cooler-than-baseline temperatures.

Source: India Meteorological Department

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

🧵 Measuring whether a household owns physical assets such as a TV, refrigerator, or washing machine often helps us understand its economic situation. #Household #Assets #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: Two in three Indian households own a television, while fewer than one in five own a washing machine

Sub-title: Growth in ownership of household assets in India, over time

Explanation: Television ownership rose from 12% in 1994 to 67% in 2024, making it the most widely owned asset among those shown. Refrigerator ownership increased from 3% to 45%. Air conditioner or air cooler ownership increased from 2% to 30%. Washing machine ownership remained lowest, rising from 1% to 21%.

Source: Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: More than a quarter of rural households have no separate kitchen, by Nileena Suresh #Cooking #Household #LivingConditions #India #DataForIndia

Title: Location where food is cooked in households (2021)

Sub-title: More than a quarter of rural households have no separate kitchen

Explanation: The chart compares where urban and rural households in India cook food. In urban areas, 72% of households cook inside the house in a separate kitchen, while 18% cook inside without a separate kitchen. In rural areas, only 49% cook inside the house in a separate kitchen, while 27% cook inside without a separate kitchen. Rural households are also more likely to cook in a separate building (14%) or outdoors (10%).

Source: National Family Health Survey, International Institute for Population Sciences

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

🧵 The size and make-up of a country’s prison population often reflects its approach to crime and punishment, the state of its criminal justice system, and broader socio-economic conditions. #Law #Prisons #Crime #India #DataForIndia

Title: Three in every four prison inmates in India have not yet been convicted of a crime

Sub-title: Types of prison inmates in India (2023)

Explanation: A treemap showing India’s prison inmates by legal status in 2023. Undertrials form by far the largest group, with 389,910 inmates, meaning most people in prison were still awaiting the completion of their trials and had not been convicted. Convicts are the second-largest group, with 135,536 inmates. Detenues and others make up only a very small share of the prison population.

Source: Prison Statistics India, National Crime Records Bureau

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

🧵 India’s economy can be categorised into three broad sectors – agriculture, industry and services. In the 1970s, agriculture was the single biggest contributor among the three, accounting for about 40% of India’s Gross Value Added. #Employment #Agriculture #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: Services sector in India accounts for more than half of the national economic output...

Sub-title: Contribution of services sub-sectors to the economy and employment, over time

Explanation: Line chart showing the share of services sub-sectors in India’s gross value added in 1973, 2000 and 2024. Professional and other services is the largest of the three in all years shown, rising from about 28% in 1973 to about 36% in 2024. Trade and hotels rises from about 5% to 12%. Transport and communications rises from about 3% to about 6%, in 2024.

Source: Employment and Unemployment Surveys, Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

Title: ... despite the services sector employing less than a third of India’s workforce

Sub-title: Contribution of services sub-sectors to the economy and employment, over time

Explanation: Line chart showing the share of services sub-sectors in India’s employment in 1973, 2000 and 2024. Professional and other services rises from about 8% in 1973 to 11% in 2024. Trade and hotels rises from about 5% to 12%, ending slightly above professional and other services. Transport and communications rises from about 2% to 5%.

Source: Employment and Unemployment Surveys, Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: The choice of baseline affects how we see warming, by Juhi Chatterjee One of the best measures to understand warming is through temperature anomalies. #Climate #Temperature #Heat #India #DataForIndia

Title: Anomalies in annual mean temperature, relative to baselines

Sub-title: The choice of baseline affects how we see warming

Explanation: Line chart showing India’s annual mean temperature anomalies from 1950 to 2024 against three baseline periods: 1951–1980, 1981–2010, and 1991–2020. All three series fluctuate year to year but rise over time, showing a clear warming trend. Older baselines produce higher recent anomalies: in 2024, the anomaly is highest against 1951–1980, next against 1981–2010, and about lowest against 1991–2020.

Source: India Meteorological Department

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

🧵 Over the last century, life in India has become safer. A key reason for falling mortality in India has been the sharp reduction in risks to infants’ lives. #Mortality #Deaths #Infant #Childhood #India #DataForIndia

Title: India has radically lowered the risk of dying young over the last 50 years

Sub-title: Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in India, over time

Explanation: A line chart shows that infant mortality in India has fallen sharply in both rural and urban areas since 1971. Rural IMR declined from around 138 deaths of children under one year per 1,000 live births in 1971 to 29 in 2023. Urban IMR declined from around 82 to 18 over the same period. Rural infant mortality remains higher than urban infant mortality, but the gap has narrowed substantially.

Source: Annual Statistical Reports, Sample Registration System

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

🧵 There are roughly 400 million men and 200 million women in India's workforce. But the nature of work is materially different between men and women in the workforce. #Work #Women #Employment #LFPR #India #DataForIndia

Title: More than one in three working women in India are not paid for their work

Sub-title: Indian workers by the type of employment in 2024

Explanation: A stacked bar chart compares the type of employment among rural and urban women and men in India. The chart shows that women, especially rural women, are much more likely than men to work as unpaid helpers in household enterprises.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

🧵 New Data Byte: Women's absence from India's workforce is most evident in their 20s, by Abhishek Waghmare The share of people in an age group who are either working or looking for work is known as the labour force participation rate (LFPR). #Jobs #Women #Employment #Work #India #DataForIndia

Title: Labour force participation by gender and age (2024)

Sub-title: Women's absence from India's workforce is most evident in their 20s

Explanation: The chart compares labour force participation rates for women and men in India across six age groups. Women's participation is lower than men's at every age. The gap is widest in the twenties, when 37% of women are in the labour force compared with 85% of men, and in the thirties, when 54% of women participate compared with 99% of men. Men's participation stays very high through the prime working ages, while women's participation peaks at 60% in the forties.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

🧵 Meat is widely consumed in India. Four in five Indians aged 15-49 consumed some form of animal-sourced protein (excluding dairy) as of 2021. #Meat #Chicken #Health #India #DataForIndia

Title: Meat eating is more common among poorer wealth groups in India

Sub-title: Share of Indian adults who eat meat, by wealth group (2021)

Explanation: The chart shows that meat eating declines as wealth rises. Among the poorest wealth group, 83% of women and 92% of men eat meat. Among the richest wealth group, 64% of women and 79% of men eat meat. Men are more likely than women to eat meat in every wealth group.

Source: National Family Health Survey, International Institute For Population Sciences

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

🧵 India's pre-monsoon and winter seasons have seen greater changes in rainfall over time than its monsoon seasons. India's rainfall is classified into four seasons according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). #Rain #Rainfall #Monsoon #Climate #India #DataForIndia

Title: Winter and pre-monsoon seasons in India have seen significant changes in rainfall over the last 120 years

Sub-title: Change in rainfall in India within seasons, between 1901 and 2024

Explanation: The chart shows the percentage change in India’s seasonal rainfall between 1901 and 2024. Winter rainfall has seen the sharpest decline, falling by 24.9%. Monsoon rainfall declined by 2.5%, and post-monsoon rainfall declined by 2.3%. Pre-monsoon rainfall is the only season that increased, rising by 5.8%.

Source: India Meteorological Department

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

🧵 India has the world's largest emigrant population, accounting for 6% of all international migrants globally as of 2024. #Migration #Immigration #Emigration #India #DataForIndia

Title: In the 1990s, four in ten Indian emigrants were living in Pakistan, a Partition legacy

Sub-title: Migrant stock of Indian origin by destination country, 1990

Explanation: In 1990, Pakistan was by far the largest destination for people of Indian origin, with 2.82 million Indian-born residents. Saudi Arabia was the next largest destination, with 834,742 people, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, and the United States. Most Indian emigrants lived in Asia, while smaller shares lived in North America, Europe, Oceania, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

Title: By 2024, as the Partition generation ages, less than one in ten Indian emigrants live in Pakistan

Sub-title: Migrant stock of Indian origin by destination country, 2024

Explanation: By 2024, the United Arab Emirates had become the largest destination for Indian emigrants, with 3.25 million people of Indian origin, followed by the United States with 3.17 million and Saudi Arabia with 1.95 million. Pakistan’s Indian-origin migrant stock had fallen to 1.60 million, making up less than one-tenth of Indian emigrants abroad. Indian emigration remained concentrated in Asia, especially West Asia, while North America accounted for a much larger share than in 1990.

Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

🧵 At Data For India, we spend a lot of time on big questions about India: female employment, household spending, fertility, health, the economy, and more. These often require deep research, large datasets, and long-form insights.

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

🧵 With over 1.4 billion people, India now has more people than any other country, having surpassed China's population in 2023. But the country’s population growth has been gradually slowing down. #Population #Census #PopulationData #India #DataForIndia

Title: India’s population will grow slower than the world’s population by the early 2030s

Sub-title: Annual population growth rate, over time

Explanation: The chart compares annual population growth rates for India and the world from 1950 to 2100. India’s growth rate was above 2% for much of the 1950s to 1980s, then declined steadily. By the early 2030s, India’s population growth is projected to fall below the world average, and by the 2060s it is expected to become negative. The world’s population growth rate is also projected to keep slowing, but more gradually. Data after 2024 are projections.

Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations Population Division

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

🧵 India's informal sector employs a majority of its workforce, and has remained large over the last two decades despite economic growth. #Jobs #InformalSector #Work #India #DataForIndia

Title: Nearly nine in ten Indian workers are employed outside the formal sector

Sub-title: Employment in formal and informal sectors (2024)

Explanation: Most Indian workers are employed outside the formal sector. In urban areas, 26% are in the formal sector and 64% in the informal sector; 11% are in farming/other. In rural areas, only 7% are in the formal sector, 42% are in the informal sector, and 51% are in farming/other.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), National Statistics Office (NSO)

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

🧵 Manufacturing activity in India takes place in two broad ways: organised manufacturing that happens in factories, and unorganised manufacturing which is typically at a small scale and family-run. #Manufacturing #Factories #Employment #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: Most unorganised manufacturing enterprises in India operate from within the house

Sub-title: Location of unorganised manufacturing enterprise establishment (2024)

Explanation: Nearly three in four unorganised manufacturing establishments operate from within household premises (72%). About a quarter are outside the household but at a fixed location (25%), and only a small share have no fixed location (2%).

Source: Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises, National Statistics Office

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

🧵 The share of textile and apparel within India’s manufacturing sector has grown significantly. One economic activity within these sectors in particular has seen a sharp rise - custom tailoring. #Manufacturing #Work #Employment #India #DataForIndia

Title: Between 2018 and 2024, nearly two out of every five new manufacturing jobs in India were of custom tailors

Sub-title: New manufacturing jobs in India, since 2018

Explanation: The number of new manufacturing jobs rose by 14 mn between 2018 and 2024, rising sharply after 2021. Custom tailoring accounted for a large share of this increase with about two out of every five new jobs.

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Statistics Office; Population Projections, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

🧵 One of the most important ways countries interact with each other in the global economy is through trade. #Imports #Exports #Goods #Services #Trade #Economy #India #DataForIndia

Title: What goods and services does India import?

Sub-title: Top five goods and services imports in India (2024).

Explanation: For goods, petroleum is the largest at 32% of total goods imports. Electrical machinery and gems & jewellery are next at 12% each, followed by mechanical machinery at 8% and organic chemicals at 4%. For services, business services lead at 33%, followed by travel (19%), transportation (16%), software services (10%), and financial services (3%).

Source: Reserve Bank of India; Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics.

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

🧵 The issue of judicial pendency - the mounting number of cases pending before courts that are yet to be finally decided or 'disposed of' - has become an area of concern in India. #Pendency #Judiciary #Law #India #DataForIndia

Title: More cases are filed than disposed of at the district and subordinate courts level in India

Sub-title: New and disposed of cases for district and subordinate courts, over time

Explanation: A line chart shows that from 2018 to 2025, the number of cases instituted is consistently higher than the number of cases disposed of (yellow). Both series fall sharply in 2020 (due to thew COVID-19 pandemic), then rise steeply from 2021 onward, reaching roughly 26 million instituted versus 25 million disposed of by 2025.

Source: National Judicial Data Grid

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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Data For India @dataforindia.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

🧵 Rainfall shapes nearly every dimension of India's economy, ecology and food systems. Rain-fed agriculture occupies over half of India's cultivated land, making the timing and distribution of rainfall critical for agricultural production, rural livelihoods and national food security. #Climate

Title: Total annual rainfall across India has remained stable across the century but seen considerable fluctuations

Sub-title: Cumulative annual rainfall in India, 1901–2024

Explanation: A line chart shows annual rainfall fluctuating sharply each year but without a clear long‑term rise or fall. Most years sit roughly between 1,000 and 1,300 mm, with occasional extreme wet years approaching ~1,500 mm and dry years dipping to around ~900–1,000 mm, including a notable low in the late 1960s and another around 2000.

Source: India Meteorological Department

Attribution: Data For India | CC BY

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