Himachal's GSDP to grow 7.1% in FY24: Economic Survey

The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Himachal Pradesh is estimated to increase 7.1 per cent to Rs 1,42,800 crore in 2023-24 against Rs 1,33,372 crore in 2022-23, as per the state's Economic Survey 2023-24. The survey tabled in the house on Friday by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu pegged the GSDP at current prices at 2,07,430 crore (estimated) in 2023-24 against Rs 1,91,728 crore in 2022-23, showing an absolute increase of Rs 15,702 crore.

The estimated GSDP growth of the state is 7.1 growth in the current fiscal as against 6.9 percent in the previous year, the economic survey said.

According to advance estimates, the Gross Value Added (GVA) from the primary sector at constant prices is expected to be Rs 17,036 crore during 2023-24 against Rs 17,417 crore in 2022-23, while the contribution of the secondary sector is estimated at Rs 63,424 crore in 2023-24 against Rs 58,039 crore in 2022-23, registering a growth rate of 9.3 per cent.

The service sector is estimated to contribute Rs 54,253 crore to GVA in 2023-24 against Rs 50,520 crore in 2022-23, reflecting a growth rate of 7.4 per cent, Sukhu said.

The Per Capita Income (PCI) at current prices is estimated to grow to Rs 2,35,199 this fiscal against Rs 2,18,788 in 2022-23, showing a growth rate of 7.5 per cent as against 11.7 per cent in 2022-23, it said.

The PCI of Himachal is Rs 49,345 more than the estimated National PCI in 2023-24.

As per the advance estimates of GVA for 2023-24, the tertiary sector accounted for 43.50 per cent, followed by the secondary sector's 42.44 per cent and the primary sector at 14.06 per cent.

During the April-December period of the ongoing fiscal, the Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) at the state level fell from 11.6 per cent to minus 1.1 per cent while the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation was at 5.1 per cent in December 2023.

As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2022-23, LFPR of all ages for Himachal Pradesh (61.3 per cent), which is higher than Uttarakhand (42.5 per cent), Punjab (42.3 per cent), Haryana (36.3 per cent), the report said, adding that 54.8 per cent women in the state are participating in the economic activities.

As many as 1,09,083 applications of unemployed youth were registered in the Employment Exchanges up to December 2023, while the number in live registers was 7,44,771, the economic survey revealed.

The multidimensional poverty in Himachal Pradesh declined from 10.14 per cent in 2013-14 to 3.88 per cent in 2022-23 and 4.27 lakh people came out of poverty during this time, it added.