Estimated quarterly impact from COVID-19 on India's GDP FY 2020-2022

India's quarterly GDP was estimated to grow by 8.4 percent in the second quarter of financial year 2022 compared to the same quarter in the previous fiscal year. While continuing to be a positive change, it was a significant reduction from the performance during the first quarter of fiscal year 2022 when GDP growth peaked by 20 percent.

Cost of the pandemic

As a result of the various lockdowns enforced since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Indian economy has been reeling from a multibillion dollar setback. The GDP contribution as well as the employment rate among most major sectors, especially services and trade, had taken a hit. The agriculture sector was an exception, having experienced positive changes on both these fronts.

A slowly recovering economy

With the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic in March 2021, the government redirected financial support to boost India’s vaccination campaign. As of February 2022, over a billion vaccine doses had been administered across the country. Furthermore, inflation within the country was expected to decline 2021 onwards. However, the stagnation of employment continued to remain a matter of concern with protests erupting across different states in 2022.