Tamil Nadu achieves record 9.69% economic growth, leading India’s states in 2024-25

Tamil Nadu ranked the highest amongst other Indian states in terms of real economic growth rate, which stood at 9.69 per cent for the financial year 2024-25, reported the news portal The Hindu on April 5, 2025.

The real economic growth rate for the Southern state was the highest in the last 10 years, as per the report.

Tamil Nadu's gross domestic product (GDP) value for the financial year 2024-25 rose to ₹17,23,698 or ₹17.23 lakh crore, compared to ₹15,71,368 or ₹15.71 crore in the 2023-24 fiscal, according to the MoSPI (Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) data cited in the news report.

Economic Growth Rate

Tamil Nadu's previous real economic growth rate high was at 8.59 per cent in the year 2017-18, while the all-time low was during the COVID-19 global pandemic at 0.07 per cent.

As per the news report, Tamil Nadu was one of the few states that recorded positive growth during the COVID pandemic, whereas many other states recorded a negative growth rate.

The report also highlighted that Tamil Nadu's nominal growth rate was at 14.02 per cent for the year, also the highest among other Indian states. The real economic growth rates show the growth of a State or a nation excluding inflation.

However, there were some states like Gujarat, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, among 14 other States and Union Territories whos growth rate data was not uploaded to the Ministry website.

The economic survey for the state projected the growth to be more than 8 per cent. Another projection for Tamil Nadhu's growth was from the working paper from the Madras School of Economics (MSE) which estimated the growth to be at 9.3 per cent.

The data shows that the actual growth rate has successfully managed to beat both the economic expectations to deliver more returns and show the condition of the State.

Sectoral growth

According to the news portal's report, Tamil Nadu's economic growth has been driven by the services (tertiary) and the secondary sector, which involves professional services, communications, along with manufacturing and construction segments.

In the Tertiary or services sector, professional services have contributed by logging 13.6 per cent growth, followed by communications at 13 per cent growth. Other segments like trade, repair, hotels, and restaurants have contributed 11.7 per cent to the State's economic health.

On the secondary sector front, manufacturing and construction have grown 8 per cent and 10.6 per cent respectively which helped the State achieve this new record growth.

“If all sectors grow 0.5 percentage point higher than what they did in 2024-25, the State’s growth will be around 10.7% in 2025-26,” Dr. Shanmugam, the former director of MSE told the news portal.