In a significant overhaul aimed at improving the frequency and granularity of labour market statistics, the National Statistical Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has revamped the design and dissemination strategy of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), effective January this year. The restructuring will facilitate the release of monthly estimates of key employment indicators at the all-India level, as well as quarterly results for both rural and urban areas—a first for the flagship labour force survey.
The decision marks a paradigm shift in India’s labour data reporting, which until now provided quarterly urban figures and annual rural-urban estimates. Starting in May, the NSO will publish monthly bulletins featuring Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR) based on the Current Weekly Status (CWS) framework. These will offer real-time insights into labour market conditions and are expected to support more agile policy formulation and economic planning. The first monthly PLFS bulletin, reflecting April data, is scheduled for release in May, while the first quarterly bulletin covering both rural and urban areas (April–June 2025) will be released in August.
In a further shift, annual PLFS results will now be aligned to the calendar year (January–December), replacing the previous July–June reporting cycle. This adjustment aims to harmonise India’s labour data with international statistical reporting standards, improving global comparability.
Since its inception in 2017, PLFS has been central to India’s official labour market statistics, producing 25 quarterly bulletins and seven annual reports up to 2024, according to a statement from the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. The survey was originally designed to deliver quarterly data for urban India and annual data for both rural and urban sectors. The revamped methodology seeks to significantly extend this scope.
One of the major enhancements lies in the sample size. The revamped PLFS will cover 22,692 First Stage Units (FSUs) annually—up from 12,800 earlier—with 12 households surveyed in each unit, resulting in a total sample of 2,72,304 households per year. This marks a 2.65 times increase from the earlier annual coverage of 1,02,400 households. According to MoSPI, the expanded sample will enable greater statistical precision and improve the reliability of estimates, especially at the state and district levels.
Further, the revamped sample design is based on a multistage stratified framework, which introduces districts as the basic geographical units (strata) in most regions. This ensures district-level representation and facilitates a nuanced understanding of region-specific labour dynamics. For rural areas, additional stratification based on proximity to urban centres has been incorporated. In urban zones, million-plus cities form distinct strata to account for varied urban labour structures.
Another critical methodological change is the adoption of a monthly rotational panel. Each selected household will now be visited four times over four months—once for the initial survey and three times for follow-ups. This design supports the creation of continuous, high-frequency data streams. Moreover, MoSPI has revised the PLFS Schedule of Enquiry to reflect these changes, ensuring alignment between data collection and analysis requirements.
While the revamped design brings considerable benefits, MoSPI has advised caution when comparing data from the revised PLFS (post-January 2025) with older estimates. Due to fundamental changes in sample selection, survey frequency, stratification criteria, and household coverage, direct comparisons with pre-2025 data may not be statistically valid. Details of the changes in sampling methodology and survey instruments are available in the report PLFS: Changes in 2025, accessible via the Ministry’s website.