Sectoral Employment Dynamics in India: A Gender- and Region-Wise Analysis Across the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sectors (2017-18 to 2023-24)

India’s economic growth has been accompanied by a shift of employment from agriculture towards the secondary and tertiary sectors, but the quality and benefits stemming from that shift remain unequally distributed. This study examines how sectoral employment trends connect to India’s economic development by analysing this from the perspectives of gender and region, within the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Using PLFS data from 2017-18 to 2023-24, male-female and rural-urban gaps were collected for each sector and employment status, then modelled using linear time-trend regressions. The results show that self-employment rose across all three sectors, with women’s participation increasing the fastest; for instance, women’s self-employment in the secondary sector rose from 47.2% to 58.5% between 2017-18 and 2023-24. Regular wage/salaried gender gaps narrowed, most notably in services, where women’s historically higher salaried share fell. Casual labour declined in agriculture and services, but still remained the leading form of employment in the secondary sector. This study concludes that turning this rising participation into better economic growth for India will require skill-development, stronger care infrastructure, and more labour protections.