India's social security coverage soars to 64% in 2025, up from 19% in 2015: ILO

India’s social security coverage has risen to 64.3% in 2025, as compared to 19% in 2015, data by the International Labour Organization (ILO) showed on Wednesday.

As per the ILO, India now ranks second in the world in terms of beneficiary count, providing social protection to around 94 crore citizens.

"The increase marks the fastest expansion in social protection coverage worldwide, reflecting the government's unwavering commitment to 'Antyodaya', empowering the last mile and fulfilling the promise of leaving no one behind," said Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who was in Geneva to attend the 113th session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) of the ILO.

According to an official statement, ILO has acknowledged India's achievement, stating officially on its dashboard that 64.3% of India's population (over 94 crore people) are now covered under at least one social protection benefit. This is an unprecedented 45 percentage point surge witnessed over the past decade, ILO stated.

Further, India is the first country in the world to update its 2025 social protection coverage data in the ILOSTAT database.

DG ILO Gilbert F Houngbo has praised India's focused welfare policies for the poor and labour class under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the Ministry of Labour & Employment statement said.

ILO's criteria for scheme consideration for each country include that the scheme should be legislatively backed, in cash and be active, and verified time series data of the last three years has to be provided, the ministry said.

"It is important to note that the present figure reflects only Phase I of the data pooling exercise. This phase focused on beneficiary data of central sector schemes and women-centric schemes in selected 8 states," the ministry said.

The ministry further said that with phase II and further consolidation underway, it is expected that India's total social protection coverage will surpass the 100-crore mark soon subject to verification of additional schemes by the ILO.