Contribution of Indian Women to the National GDP

Indian women are influencing and contributing to the Indian growth story in an increasingly meaningful way. The rising contribution of women is seen across key sectors, also implying that Indian women’s gross domestic product (GDP) contribution is increasing. As there is no official (Government) estimate of women’s GDP contribution and there is a lack of research on this important aspect, this report is an attempt to estimate the same. Our hypothesis is that Indian women’s contribution to the GDP is over 30%. India is a hugely diverse and unorganized economy. To estimate the GDP contribution, we analyzed the changing GDP composition and the dynamics of women participation. This report estimates Indian women’s GDP contribution to be 30-32%. The conclusion is based on: 1) Indian growth is increasingly led by the new age service sectors. Indian women are playing a dominant role in these faster growing sectors; 2) government policy initiatives and corporate India’s increased focus on women employees are helping increased economic participation of women; 3) the official data collection methodology, especially of the unorganized sectors, could be underrepresenting the women labor force. We also conducted targeted primary research. The responses to survey questions support our hypothesis. Each of the surveyed companies is witnessing a rising share of female employees and expects the trend to continue. The increase in women participation is more notable in the faster growing services sectors. The trend of increased women participation in the service sector augurs well for the Indian growth story.