Guide to Indian Data®
Map
← Back to solar map
Part of PLFS · 2023–24 (annual)

PLFS

Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual 2023–24

PLFS is used to measure India’s labour force—employment, unemployment, wages, and industry of work.

Registration requiredVery largeGood starting dataset
laborwageshuman capital
Host / institution

NSO / MoSPI · NSO / MoSPI

Geography

India, state, rural, urban

Time coverage

July 2023–June 2024

Update frequency

Annual

What this is best for

India’s baseline labor-market dataset

Main limitations

Registration for microdata; do not stack with pre-2017 EUS without redesign caveats

Quick answers

Short research-facing answers derived from this catalog record.

What is PLFS Annual used for?
India’s baseline labor-market dataset
How do you access PLFS Annual data?
PLFS Annual is labeled “Registration required” 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 PLFS Annual cover?
Geography: India, state, rural, urban. Time coverage: July 2023–June 2024.
What are the main limitations of PLFS Annual?
Registration for microdata; do not stack with pre-2017 EUS without redesign caveats

Background & previous rounds

Background (previous rounds). Before PLFS, labour force was measured mainly through thick NSS Employment–Unemployment Survey (EUS) rounds—notably 61st (2004–05), 66th (2009–10), and 68th (2011–12)—not as a continuous annual panel. PLFS launched in 2017–18 for quarterly urban CWS plus annual rural+urban usual status (ps+ss) and CWS. MoSPI NADA’s PLFS collection lists July–June annual unit files for 2017–18 (catalog/204), 2018–19 (/216), 2019–20 (/217), 2020–21 (/206), 2021–22 (/214), 2022–23 (/210), and 2023–24 (/213)—seven full annual waves including pandemic years. Do not stack PLFS with pre-2017 EUS without redesign caveats. This page is the 2023–24 annual microdata only—not a calendar-year or quarterly extract.

Full design timeline: PLFS series page

Guides for using this data

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

7 links

Variables10

Live-fetched MoSPI NADA PLFS 2023–24 data dictionary (hhrv/perv1 field codes). Representative fields for the page table — verify the full dictionary on the official site.

Sourced from live host documentation

Open official dictionary
Name / codeDescription
hhrvHousehold revisit file (132,844 cases, 32 variables)
hhv1Household visit-1 file (101,920 cases, 37 variables)
perrvPerson revisit file (504,440 cases, 104 variables)
perv1Person visit-1 file (418,159 cases, 139 variables)
b1q15 / b4q1Sample household number / person serial no.
state_* / distcode_*State/UT and district codes
b5pt1q3Usual principal status code
b5pt1q5Industry Code (NIC)
b5pt1q6Occupation Code (NCO)
mult_*Sub-sample wise multiplier
Formats

microdata · DDI · XML · JSON

Technical tags
household surveymicrodataannual
Example uses
Typical research and analysis uses for this dataset

Employment, unemployment, and wage analysis

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.