The National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released a consultation paper on the development of annual City-Level Statistical Reports for India’s 47 million-plus cities.
The proposal addresses a major gap in India’s statistical system: while urbanisation is accelerating, most official economic and labour data is still available only at the State level. This limits the ability of policymakers to understand city-specific employment patterns, enterprise activity, and urban productivity.
Under the new framework, these cities would be treated as independent statistical units, allowing annual city-level reporting instead of relying only on State averages. The reports will primarily use data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) to generate detailed urban economic profiles.
The labour market section will include indicators such as Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR), with gender and employment-status disaggregation. The enterprise section will track the number of establishments, Gross Value Added (GVA) per worker, technology adoption, registration levels, and the share of women-owned enterprises.
This initiative is also seen as a precursor to future City-Level GDP estimates, which have long been constrained by the absence of reliable sub-state economic data. By increasing survey granularity while using existing national datasets, MoSPI aims to improve statistical reliability without creating an entirely new data architecture.
The broader objective is to enable more evidence-based urban planning, stronger municipal governance, and targeted investment decisions for India’s fastest-growing urban centres.
Key Proposed Indicators and Coverage
Coverage: 47 million-plus cities (based on Census 2011), including major metros and emerging Tier-1 hubs.
Employment Profile (PLFS-based): LFPR, WPR, and Unemployment Rates (UR) disaggregated by gender and employment status (self-employed vs. regular wage).
Unincorporated Sector (ASUSE-based): Number of establishments, Gross Value Added (GVA) per worker, and technology adoption rates (internet usage for business).
Formalization Metrics: Tracking the percentage of registered establishments and female-owned enterprises at the city level.
Methodology: Leveraging existing national surveys by increasing the "granularity" of the sampling strata to ensure city-level representativeness.
Annual Cycle: Commitment to releasing these reports annually in user-friendly, analytical formats.
What are "Unincorporated Sector Enterprises"?
Unincorporated sector enterprises are businesses that are not legally incorporated as separate legal entities from their owners, such as small family-run shops, street vendors, and home-based manufacturing units. In India, this sector is the largest employer outside of agriculture but is often "invisible" in official data because it operates in the informal economy.
By including ASUSE data in city-level reports, the NSO will finally be able to measure the productivity (GVA) and job-creation potential of these small enterprises in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Kanpur.
Policy Relevance
Enables Evidence-Based Urban Planning: City commissioners and mayors currently fly "blind" regarding labor trends; annual reports will allow for specific policies like Urban Employment Guarantee schemes tailored to local unemployment spikes.
Foundational for City-GDP: Reliable city-level data on enterprise GVA is the critical "missing link" required to calculate City-Level GDP, which will allow cities to issue municipal bonds and attract private investment.
Supports Women’s Economic Empowerment: By tracking female-owned enterprises and women’s labor participation at the city level, the NSO provides MoHUA with the data to design gender-sensitive urban infrastructure and daycare facilities.
Drives Formalization: Tracking the percentage of registered businesses within a specific city allows municipal bodies to identify barriers to formalization and streamline Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) locally.
Optimizes Resource Allocation: The Fifteenth Finance Commission and future commissions can use this granular data to allocate grants based on the actual economic needs and performance of cities rather than state-wide proxies.
Follow The Full Paper Here: MoSPI Consultation Paper on City-Level Statistical Reports