85.5% Indian households posses at least one smartphone, 99.5% youth use UPI: MoSPI survey

Economic Times

02-06-2025

A recent survey by MoSPI reveals that over 85% of Indian households now own smartphones, with internet access available within the premises for 86.3%. Among young adults aged 15-29, smartphone ownership is nearly universal, and UPI dominates digital banking transactions. The survey highlights the increasing digital penetration across both rural and urban India.
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New Delhi: Over 85% Indian households own smartphones and UPI dominates digital banking among youth, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said Thursday.As per the results of Comprehensive Modular Survey: Telecom, 2025, around 86.3% of Indian households had access to the internet within household premises. In the age group 15-29 years, around 95.5% of persons own a smartphone among those persons who own a mobile phone (including smart phone) in rural areas. In urban areas, about 97.6% persons own a smartphone in the same age group.'In the age group 15-29 years, around 99.5% of person reported ability to perform online banking transaction through UPI, among those persons who reported ability to perform online banking transactions,' the ministry said.The survey was conducted from January to March, 2025.'This initiative marks a significant step by National Statistics Office NSO ) towards implementing short-duration, focused surveys,' MoSPI said.Approximately 85.5% of households possessed at least one smartphone, according to the survey report.In rural areas, around 79.2% males and 75.6% females in the age group 15 years and above own a smartphone among those who own a mobile phone. However, in urban areas, this is estimated at around 89.4% and 86.2% for male and female, respectively, for the same age group.The survey covered the whole of India except some villages of Andaman and Nicobar Islands which were difficult to access. At the all-India level, the total number of first-stage units (FSUs) surveyed was 4,382 (2,395 in rural areas and 1,987 in urban areas). The total number of households surveyed was 34,950 (19,071 in rural areas and 15,879 in urban areas) and the total number of persons enumerated was 1,42,065 (82,573 in rural areas and 59,492 in urban areas).The major reason for not using internet were collected for ten categories including internet service is not available in the area, do not know how to use it or what internet is, not allowed to use the internet, high cost of equipment or service, lack of local content, privacy or security concerns, internet service is available but it does not correspond to personal/household needs, and do not need the internet.