According to the Census of India 1951, nearly 20% of the population, or 7.1 crore people, were engaged in agriculture as their primary source of livelihood. As reported by PLFS Quarterly Bulletin for April-June 2026, this percentage has significantly decreased to around 15% of the estimated total population, with 21.8 crore workers currently engaged in agriculture. Despite this massive workforce, the absolute growth in agricultural employment has been modest, representing only a three-fold increase since 1951, indicating a broader diversification of India's economic base.
The self-employment sector has experienced extraordinary expansion, with numbers growing 18.8 times from 1.65 crore in 1951 to nearly 31 crore as per the latest PLFS bulletin. Salaried employment has shown even more dramatic growth, increasing 10 times from 1.48 crore in 1951 to nearly 15 crore in 2026. Domestic service, which employed around 1.4 crore workers in 1951, has also diversified significantly, with estimates ranging between 0.42 crore and 5 crore workers according to the National Domestic Workers' Movement (NDWM).
Service-oriented sectors have emerged as one of the fastest-growing avenues for livelihood creation. According to the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), the number of people engaged in restaurants alone has reached approximately 85 lakh, representing an 18.6 times jump from the total number of workers in the entire hotel and restaurant sector in 1951. Educational services have also expanded dramatically, with nearly 7.4 lakh people working in educational services and research in 1951, growing to government estimates of 1.1 crore school and university teachers alone. The medical sector has shown particularly strong growth, with registered medical professionals increasing 15.1 times since 1951.
The transport sector has experienced substantial growth, with employment rising from just 19 lakh workers in 1951 to around 2.2 crore currently, representing an 11.6-fold increase. Government sector employment has also surged nearly 10-fold, growing from 5 lakh central government employees in 1951 to nearly 50 lakh in 2026. The fishing sector has shown remarkable expansion, with workers growing from 4.2 lakh in 1951 to 2.8 crore currently, representing a 66.7 times increase.
