Govt. Plans GDP Base Year Change to 2022–23 by 2026

New Delhi: The government is mulling a change in the base year for computation of the gross domestic product (GDP) to 2022-23 in February 2026 to reflect an accurate picture of the economy. This comes at a time when the GDP growth for the second quarter showed an unimpressive growth

Addressing an event here, ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) secretary Saurabh Garg said that the ministry would come up with monthly estimates of periodic labour force survey (PLFS) from January next year. "This will be the first revision in over a decade. It was last done in 2011-12.

The next base year (GDP) will be 2022-23 and it wii be implemented from February 2026," Mr Garg said.

The 26-member advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS), which was constituted under the Chairmanship of Biswanath Goldar, is expected to complete the exercise by early 2026. Regularly updating the base year is essential to ensure that indices accurately reflect changes in the economy's structure, such as shifts in consumption patterns, sector weight and the incorporation of new sectors.

Mr Garg further said that the MoSPI is in process of starting the procedure of economic census, pitching for promoting data-driven decision-making. He also favoured better data governance by way of uniform guidelines.