India's per-capita income increases but unemployment data raises concerns

The country's per-capita income is estimated to have risen by 10 per cent to Rs 10,534 a month during the financial year ended March 2019, government data on national income showed Friday. In 2017-18, the monthly per-capita income had stood at Rs 9,580.

"The per-capita income at current prices during 2018-19 is estimated to have attained a level of Rs 1,26,406 (Rs 10,533.83 monthly) as compared to the estimated for the year 2017-18 of Rs 1,14,958 (Rs 9,579.83 a month), showing a rise of 10 per cent," according to the annual national income and GDP 2018-19 data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The per-capita income is a crude indicator of the prosperity of a country.

The gross national income (GNI) at current prices is estimated at Rs 188.17 lakh crore during 2018-19, as compared to Rs 169.10 lakh crore during 2017-18, rising by 11.3 per cent. India's gross domestic product is estimated to have slowed to a five-year low of 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of fiscal ended March 2018-19, mainly due to poor show in the farm and manufacturing sectors.

The growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) was slowest since 2014-15. The previous low was 6.4 per cent in 2013-14. For the full year 2018-19, the economic growth is estimated at 6.8 per cent, compared 7.2 per cent in the previous year.