New GDP series to map India's digital economy and gig sector

India’s economy has changed dramatically over the past decade, and its statistics are finally catching up. The government plans to roll out a new GDP series early next year that will better reflect the country’s growing digital footprint, from e-commerce and gig work to logistics and digital payments.

Officials said the upcoming series, which will shift the base year from 2011–12 to 2022–23, will include richer data on services and unincorporated enterprises, capturing the transformation of India’s economy in far greater detail.

Since the last series was introduced, the rise of the digital economy has been striking. E-commerce platforms, app-based aggregators, and gig work have become central to India’s growth story, creating millions of jobs and reshaping consumer behaviour. According to officials quoted by The Times of India, data from these platforms may also serve as proxy indicators for parts of the unorganised sector, traditionally one of the hardest segments to measure.

The expansion of logistics offers another example of this structural change. What once meant rail and truck movement has now evolved into a far more integrated network, including air cargo and intra-city deliveries.

Better data systems are also helping. Since the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the flow of granular, transaction-level data has improved significantly. E-way bills, used to track goods movement across states, have become a key input for estimating economic activity.

Meanwhile, the surge in digital payments powered by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is giving statisticians a clearer view of consumption trends, especially in sectors that were earlier difficult to capture through conventional surveys.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has also strengthened its Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises, which measures output and employment in non-agricultural units. This dataset, along with inputs from GST and digital platforms, will feed directly into the new GDP calculations.

“We have a lot more data on the production and consumption side which will help provide a better assessment of the economy,” said an official.

Expected to be released in late February alongside the second advance estimates, the revised GDP series aims to offer a more current and comprehensive picture of India’s economy, one where smartphones, apps, and digital transactions are as integral as factories and farms.

With inputs from TOI