SHILLONG – India’s young workforce has become far more educated over the past four decades, but the number of graduates without work has also climbed sharply, according to the State of Working India 2026 report by Azim Premji University.
In 1983, India had about 5 million graduates aged 20–29. By 2023, the figure had risen to 63 million. Over the same period, unemployed graduates in that age group increased from about 700,000 to 11 million. Graduates now make up 67% of unemployed 20–29-year-olds, compared with only 13% in 1983.
The pressure is highest among the youngest graduates. Using PLFS 2023–24 data, the report puts unemployment among graduates and above aged below 25 at 39.33%. Among graduates aged 25–29, the rate was 20.04%.
A degree still carries a strong wage advantage once employment is secured. Graduates earn roughly twice as much as non-graduates when they enter employment, with the earnings gap widening through their working lives. The difficult part is getting into stable work in the first place. Only a small share of graduates secure stable salaried employment within a year of finishing their studies.
India’s education expansion has been substantial. Graduates accounted for just 4% of people aged 20–29 in 1983. By 2023, their share had reached 28%. Over the same period, employment has gradually shifted away from agriculture towards manufacturing and services.
The unemployment figures show how the mismatch has developed. The number of unemployed graduates rose from around 2 million in 1993 to 10 million in 2017, before reaching 11 million in 2023. Meanwhile, the graduate population continued expanding rapidly.
Newer labour data provide a broader picture of employment. The PLFS Annual Report 2025, released in March 2026, recorded unemployment of 6.5% among people aged 15 and above with secondary education or higher, down from 7% in 2024.
That measure covers a much wider group than the graduate-specific figures in the State of Working India report.
India has spent four decades expanding higher education. The numbers suggest the next challenge is much less glamorous: finding enough good jobs for the people carrying those degrees.
