Reading guide
Prices change over time. A larger rupee number may mean the economy produced more, or simply that the same things became more expensive. The dashboard’s price toggle helps separate those two stories.
Start with the question you want the data to answer.The most important choice
Both views are correct. They answer different questions.
View Nominal · Current Prices
Nominal values use the prices that prevailed in each year. They show the actual cash size of tax receipts, debt, exports, and imports—but they combine real activity with inflation.
Nominal change ≈ real change + price changeView Real · Inflation-Adjusted Base Year
Real values remove the effect of changing prices. Every year is expressed at the price level of your selected base—2011–12 or 2022–23—making distant years more comparable.
Real value = nominal value ÷ price index × 100India’s updated national accounts
On 27 February 2026, MoSPI replaced the 2011–12 GDP base year with 2022–23. The dashboard now lets you use either price anchor whenever Real view is selected.
Useful for comparing the dashboard with publications and research built on the previous national-accounts series.
Expresses constant-price rupee values in a more recent price scale aligned with India’s new GDP reference year.
Real tax, debt, export, and import levels are rescaled. In the selected base year, the nominal and corresponding real level are equal by construction.
Percentage growth, inflation rates, and GDP ratios. Changing only the price anchor changes the unit of account, not the underlying economic path.
A simple example
Imagine revenue was ₹100 lakh crore in the base year. Later, it reaches ₹180 lakh crore—but the price index also rises from 100 to 180.
The cash amount grew, but its purchasing power did not.
What the toggle changes
| Dashboard measure | Changes? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tax revenue, public debt | Yes | These are absolute rupee values that can be shown at current or constant prices. |
| Exports and imports | Yes | The toggle separates current-price trade value from inflation-adjusted purchasing power. |
| Tax-to-GDP, debt-to-GDP | No | Both parts of the ratio use the same price basis, so the inflation adjustment cancels out. |
| CPI and WPI inflation | No | These already measure the rate at which prices are changing. |
| Real GDP and infrastructure growth | No | The base selector re-expresses rupee levels with a CPI deflator; it does not apply official MoSPI methodology revisions to growth rates. |
Reading the dashboard
No single indicator describes the economy. Read several together and look for stories that agree—or meaningful contradictions.
Use a 10–15 year window so one unusual year does not dominate the story.
A large gap indicates that inflation explains more of the apparent growth.
Debt-to-GDP and tax-to-GDP reveal burden and capacity relative to the economy’s size.
Real GDP, infrastructure, trade, and inflation should be interpreted together.
Nominal GDP can accelerate because output rose, prices rose, or both.
Debt can rise in rupees while becoming more manageable relative to GDP.
Values come from World Bank WDI, IMF debt databases, and OEA WPI/core-industries releases. Always cross-check the latest MoSPI/RBI primary release before policy use.
Ready to explore?