Some 56 percent of new internet users by 2025 will come from rural India, according to a report by TransUnion CIBIL, where 36 percent of digital payment users currently come from rural areas of the country.
The fact that 52 percent of the country’s population is under the age of 40, above the global average of 46 percent, is driving increased adoption. Also, out of the Rs 67 crore IT returns filed in FY23, Gen Z filed over Rs 2 crore, the report said, adding that personal EPFO accounts have also tripled in the past 10 years.
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This “economically influential young workforce”, coupled with a strong digital infrastructure and digital economy push, is expected to accelerate India’s digitization, the report said.
Compiled with insights from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC), the report focuses on the transformative impact of digitization of credit and payments on changing consumer behaviour.
digital infrastructure
India has emerged as a global leader in the creation and adoption of digital infrastructure and the third largest country in the fintech ecosystem.
The country tops in terms of unique identity schemes, with 1.3 billion people registered under Aadhaar; and in terms of digital transaction volume, the country will conduct 7,400 UPI transactions in 2022.
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In 2022, app downloads in the country will reach 28 billion rupees, accounting for 5% of global app downloads, ranking second in the world. It also has 1.2 billion wireless phone subscriptions, 45 percent of which are in rural areas, and 760 million active Internet users, of which 53 percent are in rural areas.
Online Shopping
More than a third of Indians own a smartphone, with more than 670 million units. Of this, Rs 530 crore are e-commerce users and Rs 260 crore will shop online by 2022, the report said.
It added that the growth was also seen to be driven by the growing scale of digital finance, increasing number of use cases for digital finance and accelerating financial inclusion.
