Social protection cover in India rises to over 64% in 2025, says ILO

India's social security coverage reaches 64.3 per cent in 2025, up from 19 per cent in 2015, as verified by ILO using new national-level data pooling by the Centre

Nearly two out of three people in India are now covered under at least one social security benefit — which roughly translates into 950 million people, said the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Wednesday.

 

According to the latest data from the ILOSTAT database, India’s social security coverage in 2025 stood at 64.3 per cent, up from 19 per cent a decade ago.

 

 “This is a commendable rise, indicating our commitment towards welfare-driven development and ensuring our various pro-people schemes reach maximum number of people,” wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media platform X.

 

In its assessment, ILO included data from 32 central & state schemes, of which 24 pertained to pension, two were on maternity benefits and two on child benefits, among others.

 

These include schemes like Atal Pension Yojana, Kisan Samman Nidhi, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Janani Suraksha Yojana and PM POSHAN, among others.  

 

ILO’s criteria to consider a scheme as part of the social security net include that it should be legislatively backed, in cash and be active along with the availability of a verified time-series data of the last three years. 

 

The increase in social protection coverage is expected to further strengthen India’s global engagements, particularly in finalising social security agreements (SSAs) with developed nations. And, it will further bolster India's position in trade and labour mobility negotiations by showcasing a credible and robust social protection regime.

 

“These agreements will ensure the portability of social protection benefits for Indian professionals working overseas, while offering partner countries the transparency required for mutual recognition frameworks,” said a labour ministry statement on Wednesday. 

 

In his meeting with the ILO director general Gilbert F. Houngbo on the sidelines of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva on Tuesday, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya apprised him about the national-level social protection data pooling exercise that has been carried out by the government. This made it possible for the ILO to look at fresh data. 

 

Under this exercise, the Centre has written to a few major states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, among others, in the first phase of the exercise to share beneficiary data of various social security and welfare schemes being provided by them.

 

“The present figure reflects only Phase I of the data pooling exercise. This phase focused on beneficiary data of central sector schemes and women-centric schemes in selected 8 states.

 

With Phase II and further consolidation underway, it is expected that India’s total social protection coverage will soon surpass the one billion mark upon verification of additional schemes by the ILO,” the labour ministry statement said.