69% of all PMMY Loans Given to Women: Economic Survey

By: WE Staff | Friday, 30 January 2026

• Women entrepreneurs have been able to avail 69% of all micro loans under PMMY
• Women employees earned higher wages than their male counterparts in some industries in urban areas
• The micro finance industry caters to 95% women clients and 80% rural clients

The Economic Survey for the year 2026 published in Parliament on Thursday reported that 69% of all microloans issued under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) were issued to women; this equates to a total of ₹3.8 trillion or 69 percent of all loans. It also reported that in certain sectors of cities, women workers are paid more than men.

The survey revealed that 95 percent of people who borrow from microfinance institutions are women. Furthermore, 80 percent of these borrowers live in rural areas, where historically, access to loans has been difficult.

Thus success has been experienced due to microfinance's crucial role in India's financial inclusion strategy, especially catering to low-income, rural and female borrowers.

There has been substantial growth in the microfinance sector witnessed over the last 20 years with the formalisation of the industry, private equity (PE), and venture capital (VC) funding.

Women entrepreneurs were issued loans totaling ₹1.38 trillion, which comprised 69 percent of issued microloans through PMMY.

Other segments who received funds from PMMY include scheduled castes (SC) who received ₹0.36 trillion, scheduled tribes (ST) who received ₹0.13 trillion, Other Backward Classes (OBC) who received ₹0.74 trillion, and minority groups who received ₹0.33 trillion from the program covering a total number of 59.8 million borrowers.

There has been a 54 percent increase in the number of women in the cash-based economy, as compared to the previous year. The percentage of women using cash for food purchases has increased from 30 percent in 2016-2017 to 89 percent in 2022-2023.

Among those using cash to buy food, 49 percent have begun buying local foods, promoting dietary diversity for both women and all children over six months of age.

Women have a 10.8 percent participation rate in regular year-round mobility through jobs outside the home for rural areas (as of Q2 of FY27).

A large proportion of women in rural areas work as "own-account workers/employers" (37.5 percent of women) and as "helpers in household enterprises" (34.2 percent of women); this reflects a strong desire for independence and entrepreneurship among these women due to flexible working conditions.

The survey data indicates a positive trend regarding female labour force participation (FLFP); the FLFP increased from 23.3 percent in 2017-2018 to 41.7 percent by 2023-2024. This indicates that women are more economically included and empowered than previously. Additionally, there were a higher percentage of proprietary establishments that were female-headed as compared to the previous FY26 year (24.2 percent female-headed proprietors in FY25 vs. 26.2 percent for FY26). Finally, female-headed manufacturers accounted for 58.4 percent of all manufacturers in FY26.

All four states (West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh) with a higher percentage of female-headed proprietary establishments also have a higher percentage of FLFP.