India's Female Workforce Participation Sees Sharp Rise to 40.3%: Labour Ministry

By: WE staff | Tuesday, 26 August 2025

• Employment rate among women increased from 22% in 2017-18 to 40.3% in 2023-24
• Employment rate for women with postgraduate education improved from 34.5% to 40%
• Programs such as Lakhpati Didi, Namo Drone Didi, and DAY-NRLM are empowering women

The Labour and Employment Ministry announced on Monday that employment for woman in country's workforce increased rapidly according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).

The women work participation rate (WPR) almost doubled from 22 percent in 2017-18 to 40.3 percent in 2023-24 while the unemployment ratio for the same periods decreased from 5.6 percent to 3.2 percent.

Overall growth can be attributed largely to rural India, as female employment grew by 92 percent, versus 43 percent for urban India; employability of female graduates increased from 42 percent in 2013 to 47.5 percent in 2024; and WPR of females with qualification postgraduate and above increased from 34.5 percent to 40 percent between 2017-18 and 2023-24.

The India Skills Report 2025 indicated that 55 percent of Indian graduates would be employable anywhere in the world in 2025, ebbed from 51.2 percent in 2024.

EPFO payroll data has revealed that over the last seven years, 1.56 crore (15.6 million) women have stepped into the formal sector workforce, and 16.69 crore (166.9 million) women workers in the unorganised sectors have been documented on the e-Shram portal, enabling them to avail social welfare schemes.

Women entrepreneurship has also received a high impetus with 70 central schemes, 400+ state schemes, and PLFS data indicating the percentage of women's self-employment growth from 51.9 percent to 67.4 percent within a period of six years.

The government underscored that the increase represents a transition from women's development to women-led development.

Gender budgeting is this shift, increasing 429 percent over the last ten years—from ₹0.85 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to ₹4.49 lakh crore in FY 2025-26.

Initiatives such as Startup India, Lakhpati Didi, Namo Drone Didi, and DAY-NRLM are leading empowerment efforts, with almost 50 percent of DPIIT-registered startups (74,410 out of 1.54 lakh) having one or more woman directors.

Financial inclusion schemes have been one of the largest improvers. Women have been given 68 percent of total loans under PM Mudra Yojana—35.38 crore loans worth ₹14.72 lakh crore. Similarly, women street vendors account for 44 percent of beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi.

These all schemes are creating new sources of self-reliance for women and revamping their positioning in India's economic growth story.