India to Launch New GDP Series Using Digital Data

India is set to embrace new methodologies for measuring its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the country's next GDP series will depend on digital records and updated surveys to estimate how goods were consumed or used rather than the old ways, which used fixed ratios. The new approach is expected to provide a more accurate and timelier economic estimates.

Surveys to form the backbone of the new base year

MoSPI has said that the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) for 2022-23 and 2023-24 will play a pivotal role, setting the new GDP base year. These surveys collect detailed information on how households spend money on food, transport, health, education, and other needs.

In addition, updated surveys of both formal businesses and informal enterprises will be leveraged to get a clearer picture of production and employment across different sectors, including small shops and self-employed workers who are often left out while older data systems were being used.

Explaining the shift from commodity flow

The commodity-flow method adopted so far used fixed ratios taken from a study in 2011-12 and divided goods into categories such as intermediate consumption (used in production), final consumption (used by households), and others.

It failed to measure the accurate data, as the ratios collected were constant and were not changed according to the consumption habits and production structures. For example, the way people use vehicles or digital services currently is very different from a decade ago.

Under the new system the dynamic ratios reflect the shares of each aspect. It has been proposed to drop the commodity-flow method altogether as it no longer matches with the reality of demand and consumption.

Multiple data sources for accuracy

The discussion paper released by the ministry explains how different datasets will be combined to get a complete picture of economic activity. In the transport sector, for example, data from e-Vahan, will be blended with surveys on public transport operations and household spending on vehicle repair and maintenance. This will provide a accurate picture of vehicles being registered with a difference between commercial transport services and personal vehicles. The old method was not competent enough to differentiate these changes and failed to synthesize accurate estimates.

The new GDP series will also adopt the COICOP 2018 framework, which stands for Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose. This is an international system that classifies household spending into detailed categories, making India's accounts more comparable with global standards.
MoSPI also plans to revise the assumptions about how long fixed assets, such as machinery and buildings, last. This will improve estimates of "consumption of fixed capital", which is an important measure of investment in the economy.

Timeline for release and back series

According to the ministry, the new GDP series will be released on February 27, 2026. Back-series data, which allows comparison with earlier years using the new method, will be published within a year after the launch. This will help analysts and policy makers study long-term trends without breaks in the data.