https://www.fedev.org/datastories/Ideas about India’s economy, business and public policy, told through data. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/the-poorest-10-percent-in-rich-countries-live-on-more-than-the-richest-10-percent-in/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/the-poorest-10-percent-in-rich-countries-live-on-more-than-the-richest-10-percent-in/Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTIn India, consuming $10 a day puts someone among the richest 10% of earners. In Canada, Japan or the United States, the same amount puts them among the poorest 10%. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/more-factories-could-mean-more-growth-with-less-environmental-impact/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/more-factories-could-mean-more-growth-with-less-environmental-impact/Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTFor agriculture, it would take about 3,100 hectares of land and 4.4 billion litres of groundwater. For industry, by comparison, it would require just 11 hectares and 59 million litres! https://www.fedev.org/datastories/some-states-price-additional-far-at-25-50-percent-of-land-value-making-vertical-growth/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/some-states-price-additional-far-at-25-50-percent-of-land-value-making-vertical-growth/Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTAs illustrated above, adding just one or two floors can require paying a premium equivalent to 25–50% of the underlying land value. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/foreign-direct-investment-is-coming-in-but-india-needs-to-do-more-to-retain-capital/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/foreign-direct-investment-is-coming-in-but-india-needs-to-do-more-to-retain-capital/Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTYet net FDI, the capital that remains after exits and profit repatriation, tells a paradoxical story. Over the past five years, it has fallen from $44 billion in FY21 to just $7 billion today. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-fares-worse-on-non-communicable-disease-deaths-vs-countries-with-similar-income/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-fares-worse-on-non-communicable-disease-deaths-vs-countries-with-similar-income/Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTIn India, 55% of NCD deaths are premature, meaning patients are dying earlier than they would if their condition had been properly managed. Reducing this figure to the level of a peer country such as Sri Lanka, where the equivalent number is 38%, would save more than 1 million Indian lives per year. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-holds-negligible-share-in-most-high-potential-sports-equipment-export-categories-v/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-holds-negligible-share-in-most-high-potential-sports-equipment-export-categories-v/Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTIndia’s total sports goods exports account for only 0.5% of the global market, despite strong legacy and expertise that predates the partition. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/allowing-bigger-buildings-helped-hyderabad-keep-housing-prices-in-check/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/allowing-bigger-buildings-helped-hyderabad-keep-housing-prices-in-check/Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTUsing 2007 as a base year (housing prices are set at 100), Hyderabad’s HPI stood at 97 in 2015, suggesting that housing prices remained broadly stable. … in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, and Kolkata, prices roughly doubled in less than a decade! https://www.fedev.org/datastories/severe-construction-restrictions-lock-inr-20-lakh-crore-worth-of-land-around-3-695/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/severe-construction-restrictions-lock-inr-20-lakh-crore-worth-of-land-around-3-695/Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTThese restrictions apply to 3,695 monuments across India, locking nearly 3.5 lakh acres of land. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/indias-tariff-system-is-twice-as-complex-as-its-competitors-budget-2026-holds-out-hope/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/indias-tariff-system-is-twice-as-complex-as-its-competitors-budget-2026-holds-out-hope/Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTAccording to the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, customs import clearances take 3–4 times longer in India than in China and Vietnam, limiting our trade potential. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/rbis-simplified-order-reconciliation-guidelines-can-accelerate-progress-towards-indias/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/rbis-simplified-order-reconciliation-guidelines-can-accelerate-progress-towards-indias/Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTOver the next five years, as the e-commerce industry grows, these measures have the potential to consolidate nearly 220 crore export bills and save exporters around INR 4 lakh crore in compliance and penalty costs! https://www.fedev.org/datastories/easing-the-industrial-33-green-cover-mandate-promotes-job-creation-and-is-good-for-the/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/easing-the-industrial-33-green-cover-mandate-promotes-job-creation-and-is-good-for-the/Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTWith this reform, the same industrial output that earlier required 660,000 hectares can now be produced on 440,000 hectares! https://www.fedev.org/datastories/signing-ftas-with-the-us-and-eu-represents-a-usd-250-bn-export-and-8-million-job/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/signing-ftas-with-the-us-and-eu-represents-a-usd-250-bn-export-and-8-million-job/Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTFTAs with the US and EU together could create about 8 million direct and indirect jobs over the next decade. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/post-trump-tariffs-india-should-target-eu-as-the-next-destination-for-expanding-exports/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/post-trump-tariffs-india-should-target-eu-as-the-next-destination-for-expanding-exports/Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTIndia already exports USD 79 billion to the EU, close to the USD 81 billion it sells to the US. Yet with EU imports near USD 3 trillion, India’s share is just 2.65%, leaving ample headroom. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/indian-container-terminals-are-1-5-2-5x-slower-than-asian-peers/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/indian-container-terminals-are-1-5-2-5x-slower-than-asian-peers/Fri, 01 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTSingapore clears a typical container ship in about 12 hours. India’s average is 30 hours — over 2.5 times slower. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/a-focus-on-labour-intensive-manufacturing-is-critical-for-job-creation-in-india/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/a-focus-on-labour-intensive-manufacturing-is-critical-for-job-creation-in-india/Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTIn fact, across the economy, labour-intensive industries generate about 5 to 6 times more employment compared to capital-intensive sectors. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-punches-below-its-weight-in-attracting-foreign-tourists/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-punches-below-its-weight-in-attracting-foreign-tourists/Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTIndia — with 43 sites — ought to be near the trendline’s 85 million mark … Yet in 2019, we welcomed only around 18 million foreign tourists. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/indian-firms-report-more-regulatory-pain-than-peers/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/indian-firms-report-more-regulatory-pain-than-peers/Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTIn India, 14% of firms identify business permits as a major obstacle. That’s shockingly high compared to countries like Vietnam (1.8%) or China (just 0.8%). https://www.fedev.org/datastories/smartphone-exports-show-what-can-happen-if-we-roll-out-the-red-carpet-instead-of-red-tape/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/smartphone-exports-show-what-can-happen-if-we-roll-out-the-red-carpet-instead-of-red-tape/Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTOver the past eight years, India’s smartphone exports have grown nearly 150x from around USD 140 million to USD 20 billion! https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-not-capitalized-on-chinas-export-growth-slowdown/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-not-capitalized-on-chinas-export-growth-slowdown/Sat, 01 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTDuring the same period, countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh have successfully capitalized on this shift, evident from their notably high export growth rates. In contrast, India has struggled to achieve substantial export growth in the last decade. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/high-tariffs-hurt-exports/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/high-tariffs-hurt-exports/Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTThere is a clear negative relationship between a country’s tariff rates and its export performance. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-is-punching-below-its-weight-in-goods-export-but-doing-very-well-in-services-export/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-is-punching-below-its-weight-in-goods-export-but-doing-very-well-in-services-export/Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTIn merchandise exports, India lags competitors like China, Vietnam and even Bangladesh. However, India excels in services exports, achieving per capita export levels comparable to China (a country with five times its per capita income) and significantly surpassing Vietnam and Bangladesh. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-not-created-better-opportunities-for-workers-on-farms-as-fast-as-china/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-not-created-better-opportunities-for-workers-on-farms-as-fast-as-china/Sun, 01 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTIn the 30 years since their liberalisation, [China’s] share of employment in agriculture dropped by 32 percentage points, from 70% down to 38% … India on the other hand has seen a reduction of only 19 percentage points, from 63% to 44%. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/impact-of-building-and-operating-reforms-on-monthly-per-worker-housing-cost/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/impact-of-building-and-operating-reforms-on-monthly-per-worker-housing-cost/Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTWithout reforms, the average monthly rent is approximately INR 6,200. … Further reforms targeting operational issues like taxation and utilities could reduce it further to INR 3,200, nearly halving the original cost. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/the-best-indian-industrial-clusters-are-not-yet-globally-competitive/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/the-best-indian-industrial-clusters-are-not-yet-globally-competitive/Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTSriperumbudur, recently in the spotlight for assembling iPhones, exports about USD 9 billion, while Shenzhen, China’s largest electronics hub, exports nearly USD 350 billion. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/three-quarters-of-the-increase-in-employment-in-the-past-5-years-has-come-from-self/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/three-quarters-of-the-increase-in-employment-in-the-past-5-years-has-come-from-self/Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTHowever, about 77%, or 100 million, of those are self-employed, which may not be a good thing. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-the-potential-to-grow-merchandise-exports-at-20-percent-annually-as-it-did-from/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-the-potential-to-grow-merchandise-exports-at-20-percent-annually-as-it-did-from/Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT… the decade from 2001 to 2011 saw a staggering 21% export growth rate … However, the decade from 2011 to 2021 has seen a sharp slowdown in export growth, with annual rates struggling to reach even 3%. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-shown-some-success-in-services-but-performance-in-merchandise-exports-has-been/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-has-shown-some-success-in-services-but-performance-in-merchandise-exports-has-been/Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMTSince then, India has consistently expanded its share of global service exports from 0.5% to more than 4%. However, merchandise exports tell a different story. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/economic-growth-and-exports-grow-together/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/economic-growth-and-exports-grow-together/Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTSo much so that NO country has grown fast without growing exports. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-is-not-capitalising-on-china-vacating-the-global-apparel-market/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-is-not-capitalising-on-china-vacating-the-global-apparel-market/Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 GMTYet India only captured 3% of this market. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/achieving-rich-country-standards-by-2050-requires-sustained-economic-growth-at-10-percent/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/achieving-rich-country-standards-by-2050-requires-sustained-economic-growth-at-10-percent/Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMTAs is clear from the chart, growing at 4% vs 10% over 30 years will be the difference between India achieving the living standards of Libya or Europe. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/exporting-states-grow-faster/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/exporting-states-grow-faster/Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTThe chart above, based on an analysis of 14 large states, shows that even for Indian states, more exports lead to faster economic growth. https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-and-vietnam-have-grown-rapidly-through-exports-and-so-have-all-economies-over-the/https://www.fedev.org/datastories/india-and-vietnam-have-grown-rapidly-through-exports-and-so-have-all-economies-over-the/Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTIndia’s most recognised period of economic growth after the 1991 reforms was driven by a significant increase in exports – they went from 7% of GDP to 25%.