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EC · Economic Census

Economic Census (MoSPI)

The Economic Census is used to map the universe of establishments and employment outside pure farm activity.

Open downloadVery largeGood starting dataset
firmsestablishmentslaborMSMEs
Host / institution

MoSPI · Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Geography

India, state, district

Time coverage

Multiple rounds (latest published tables by round)

Update frequency

Irregular multi-year census rounds

What this is best for

Universe-style establishment and employment counts—essential for informal and non-farm economy structure

Main limitations

Round-to-round design changes; not a continuous firm panel like ASI unit files; table packages vary by release

Quick answers

Short research-facing answers derived from this catalog record.

What is Economic Census used for?
Universe-style establishment and employment counts—essential for informal and non-farm economy structure
How do you access Economic Census data?
Economic Census is labeled “Open download” on this guide. Open the access portal or documentation links on the record for the current host process—do not assume open download if registration or a DUA is required.
What geography and time does Economic Census cover?
Geography: India, state, district. Time coverage: Multiple rounds (latest published tables by round).
What are the main limitations of Economic Census?
Round-to-round design changes; not a continuous firm panel like ASI unit files; table packages vary by release

Background & previous rounds

Economic Census rounds enumerate non-agricultural establishments (and related employment) outside the factory ASI frame. Use with ASI for organized manufacturing and ASUSE for unincorporated enterprise surveys; do not treat EC tables as a drop-in for ASI unit microdata.

Guides for using this data

Official portals, user guides, codebooks, and tutorials for access and analysis.

2 links

Variables5

MoSPI Economic Census product documentation. Representative fields for the page table — verify the full dictionary on the official site.

Open official dictionary
Name / codeDescription
EstablishmentsCount of establishments by activity
EmploymentPersons employed in establishments
Ownership typeOwnership / organization type
Rural / urbanLocation type of establishment
NIC codesIndustry classification codes
Formats

tables · reports · Excel

Technical tags
establishment censuspublic tablesuniverse-style
Example uses
Typical research and analysis uses for this dataset

District establishment density, informal non-farm employment denominators

Research and articles using this data

Verified examples that analyze, reuse, introduce, or visualize this dataset. Search matches without evidence are not published here.

3 verified sources

Scholarly works3

Scholarly checked:
10 Sept 2026
Web checked:
Not checked yet

Pairs well with

Many Indian data problems need survey + administrative combinations.