India: Gross capital formation (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, India's gross capital formation (% of GDP) rose 0.26 percentage points on 2024 (from 34.35% to 34.6%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.27 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.87 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 6.01 percentage points in 1981 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.39 percentage points in 1996. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.55 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 60% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, India had the 8th highest value of the 130 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to India in the 2025 ranking

• Gambia, The — 5th of 130: 40.39%
• Guinea — 6th of 130: 37%
• Benin — 7th of 130: 35.83%
• Kosovo — 9th of 130: 34.6%
• Rwanda — 10th of 130: 34.13%
• Uzbekistan — 11th of 130: 33.28%

What this measures

Gross capital formation includes acquisitions less disposals of produced assets for purposes of fixed capital formation, inventories or valuables. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: Because policymakers have tended to focus on fostering the growth of output, and because data on production are easier to collect than data on spending, many countries generate their primary estimate of GDP using the production approach. Moreover, many countries do not estimate all the components of national expenditures but instead derive some of the main aggregates indirectly using GDP (based on the production approach) as the control total. Data on capital formation may be estimated from direct surveys of enterprises and administrative records or based on the commodity flow method using data from production, trade, and construction activities.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 66 values

Gross capital formation (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 28.54% (2025)
• Bhutan — 42.6% (2024)
• Maldives — 30.79% (2024)
• Nepal — 29.4% (2025)
• Sri Lanka — 29.65% (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for India

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$700.07 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$576.45 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$426.05 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 37.21 trillion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) — US$341.19 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (constant LCU) — 32.99 trillion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 10.77% (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$2.24 trillion (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is India's gross capital formation (% of GDP)?

34.6% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 16.67 percentage points from 17.93% in 1960. The highest value was 41.95% in 2007 and the lowest 17.64% in 1969.

How does India rank?

8th highest of 130 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in gross capital formation (% of GDP) unusual for India?

In 2025, India's gross capital formation (% of GDP) rose 0.26 percentage points on 2024 (from 34.35% to 34.6%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.27 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.87 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.GDI.TOTL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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