India’s GDP growth accelerates to 8.4% in third quarter, beats expectations

The numbers, which will force economists and analysts to question whether they seriously underestimated the momentum in India’s economy, were released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday, although a closer reading does point to some concerns over the tepid growth in consumption spending, one of the pillars of GDP.

GDP growth in the quarter ending December 2023 is 8.4%, almost two percentage points more than the 6.6% number predicted by a Bloomberg poll of economists. And GDP growth in the quarters ending June and September 2023 now stands at 8.2% and 8.1% respectively, instead of the 7.8% and 7.6% when the September quarter numbers were released on November 30, 2023. In terms of a sectoral growth performance, manufacturing and construction are among the best performers with annual growth rate of 8.5% and 10.7% respectively.

“The actual performance of the economy has continued to defy expectations and do better than what many had projected, underscoring the fact that a structural transformation of the economy is indeed underway, both in terms of physical infrastructure and digital infrastructure as well as inclusion agenda boosting the purchasing power of Indian households,” chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said, citing estimates of various agencies, such as ADB (6.7% for FY24), IMF (6.7%) and Fitch (6.9%).