At 6.1 mn, pace of demat account additions slowest in 10 quarters in Q2FY23

Market observers say brokerages have become less aggressive chasing clients, given the high cost of acquisitions and growing inactivity among retail investors

The number of dematerialised (demat) accounts added during the September quarter for the 2022-23 financial year (Q2FY23) was the slowest since Q1FY21.

During Q2, 6.1 million new accounts got added, taking the total tally to 102.6 million. At 6.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase, the growth was slowest since the lockdown-hit Q1FY21, which had logged 5.7 per cent QoQ growth. In absolute terms, the growth was lowest since Q4FY21 when 5.3 million new accounts were added.

The highest growth — both in percentage as well as absolute terms — was during Q3FY22, when both the Nifty50 and Sensex had