The Reserve Bank's own figures

Gold loans, a record share

7.69 per centgold loans as a share of personal loans on 31 July 2026, the highest since January 2019; 7.68 per cent on 31 August 2026, the second highest

Gold loans stood at ₹5,59,468 crore on 31 August 2026, against ₹3,05,342 crore a year earlier and ₹1,32,647 crore two years earlier. The stock in August 2026 is 4.2 times as large as it was in August 2024.

From 2019 to 2023 the share never went above 2.53 per cent, which it reached in May 2021.

Of the 82 lines of non-food credit in the Reserve Bank's two tables, gold loans grew fastest in each month from January to July 2026.

The Reserve Bank's release for September 2026 is expected on 30 October 2026, while the release for September 2025 came on 31 October 2025.

The coming figures will be read against September 2025, when farm credit grew 9.0 per cent and all non-food bank credit grew 10.2 per cent, as the release of 31 October 2025 printed them. If farm credit again grows more slowly in September 2026, the run that covers every one of the 16 months from May 2025 to August 2026 reaches a seventeenth month.

Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, September 2025, 31 October 2025 .

Start here

The essentials

What the figures show

Loans against gold jewellery reached 7.69 per cent of banks' personal loans on 31 July 2026, the highest share in any month since January 2019, and were 7.68 per cent on 31 August 2026, the second highest. This brief calls them gold loans, and it reads each share as the Reserve Bank reports it. January 2019 is where the Reserve Bank's DBIE table of these figures begins. Gold loans stood at ₹5,59,468 crore on 31 August 2026, which is 83.2 per cent more than a year earlier. From 2019 to 2023 the share never went above 2.53 per cent, which it reached in May 2021. Of the 82 lines of non-food credit in the Reserve Bank's two tables, gold loans grew fastest in each month from January to July 2026.

Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025 .

Loans against gold, August 2026

Loans against gold jewellery reached 7.69 per cent of banks' personal loans on 31 July 2026, the highest share in any month since January 2019, and were 7.68 per cent on 31 August 2026, the second highest. This brief calls them gold loans, and it reads each share as the Reserve Bank reports it. January 2019 is where the Reserve Bank's DBIE table of these figures begins. Gold loans stood at ₹5,59,468 crore on 31 August 2026, which is 83.2 per cent more than a year earlier.

Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025 .

The fastest line, January to July 2026

Gold loans grew 128.8 per cent over a year earlier in January 2026, and 88.1 per cent in July 2026. The Reserve Bank's workbooks show that in each of those months they grew faster than any other line of non-food credit.

Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .

Farm credit behind the headline

Bank credit to agriculture and allied activities, which this brief calls farm credit, has grown more slowly than all non-food bank credit in every one of the 16 months from May 2025 to August 2026. In August 2026 farm credit grew 17.2 per cent, while all non-food bank credit grew 18.8 per cent.

Source: RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, 30 September 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2025, 30 June 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2025, 31 July 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2025, 29 August 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2025, 30 September 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, September 2025, 31 October 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, October 2025, 28 November 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, November 2025, 31 December 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, 29 May 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, 30 June 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, 31 July 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, 31 August 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, 30 September 2026 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025 .

The weaker sections

The Reserve Bank reports a line of the priority sector, which its workbooks label "Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF". The Reserve Bank's line for the weaker sections, which includes net priority sector lending certificates, grew more slowly than all non-food bank credit in each month from January to August 2026, eight months in a row, as the workbooks show. The widest gap came in May 2026, when the line grew 9.1 per cent and all non-food bank credit grew 17.4 per cent.

Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .

The smallest loans

Lenders reported 1,72,97,817 Shishu loan accounts under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) in 2025-26, which is the fewest since the scheme began in 2015-16. That is 68.2 per cent fewer than the 5,44,80,992 accounts of 2019-20, when the count was highest. It is also 37.6 per cent fewer than the 2,77,41,792 accounts of 2024-25, the year before.

Source: MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2015-16 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2016-17 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2017-18 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2018-19 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2019-20 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2020-21 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2021-22 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2022-23 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2023-24 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2024-25 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2025-26 .

01 / The evidence

Gold loans as a share of personal loans

Loans against gold jewellery reached 7.69 per cent of banks' personal loans on 31 July 2026, the highest share in any month since January 2019, and were 7.68 per cent on 31 August 2026, the second highest. This brief calls them gold loans, and it reads each share as the Reserve Bank reports it. January 2019 is where the Reserve Bank's DBIE table of these figures begins.

Loans against gold jewellery as a share of personal loans, January 2019 to August 2026Per cent of personal loans, last reporting date of each month0123456782019Jan 19: 1.1Feb 19: 1.1Mar 19: 1.1Apr 19: 1.1May 19: 1.1Jun 19: 1.2Jul 19: 1.1Aug 19: 1.2Sep 19: 1.2Oct 19: 1.1Nov 19: 1.1Dec 19: 1.12020Jan 20: 1.2Feb 20: 1.2Mar 20: 1.2Apr 20: 1.2May 20: 1.3Jun 20: 1.3Jul 20: 1.4Aug 20: 1.5Sep 20: 1.7Oct 20: 1.9Nov 20: 2.0Dec 20: 2.22021Jan 21: 2.3Feb 21: 2.4Mar 21: 2.5Apr 21: 2.5May 21: 2.5Jun 21: 2.5Jul 21: 2.4Aug 21: 2.3Sep 21: 2.3Oct 21: 2.3Nov 21: 2.2Dec 21: 2.32022Jan 22: 2.3Feb 22: 2.2Mar 22: 2.2Apr 22: 2.1May 22: 2.2Jun 22: 2.2Jul 22: 2.2Aug 22: 2.2Sep 22: 2.2Oct 22: 2.3Nov 22: 2.2Dec 22: 2.12023Jan 23: 2.1Feb 23: 2.2Mar 23: 2.1Apr 23: 2.1May 23: 2.1Jun 23: 2.2Jul 23: 2.0Aug 23: 2.0Sep 23: 2.0Oct 23: 1.8Nov 23: 1.8Dec 23: 1.82024Jan 24: 1.7Feb 24: 1.8Mar 24: 1.7Apr 24: 1.7May 24: 2.0Jun 24: 2.1Jul 24: 2.2Aug 24: 2.4Sep 24: 2.5Oct 24: 2.6Nov 24: 2.8Dec 24: 2.92025Jan 25: 3.0Feb 25: 3.2Mar 25: 3.5Apr 25: 3.7May 25: 4.1Jun 25: 4.5Jul 25: 4.8Aug 25: 4.9Sep 25: 5.0Oct 25: 5.2Nov 25: 5.5Dec 25: 5.72026Jan 26: 6.0Feb 26: 6.3Mar 26: 6.6Apr 26: 7.0May 26: 7.3Jun 26: 7.5Jul 26: 7.7Aug 26: 7.7Jul 26, 7.69, the highestAug 26, 7.68Jan 19, 1.1
Per cent of personal loans, last reporting date of each month
Loans against gold jewellery as a share of personal loans, January 2019 to August 20261234567820192020202120222023202420252026Jul 26, 7.69, the highestAug 26, 7.68Jan 19, 1.1
Each point is the share of personal loans that were gold loans on the last reporting date of a month. The line peaks at 7.69 per cent on 31 July 2026, and it ends at 7.68 per cent on 31 August 2026, which is the second highest point.
Aug 26: 7.68
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Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025 . Each observation's dated source is linked in its CSV row.

View the figures in a table
Gold loans as a share of personal loans
ObservationValueOfficial source
Dec 191.12RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Dec 202.18RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Dec 212.29RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Dec 222.14RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Dec 231.76RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Dec 242.89RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Dec 255.71RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Aug 267.68RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2

From 2019 to 2023 the share never went above 2.53 per cent, which it reached in May 2021.

02 / The evidence

The fastest-growing line, January to July 2026

Gold loans grew 128.8 per cent over a year earlier in January 2026, and 88.1 per cent in July 2026. The Reserve Bank's workbooks show that in each of those months they grew faster than any other line of non-food credit. In August 2026, which is the latest month that the Reserve Bank has published, gold loans grew 83.2 per cent.

Loans against gold jewellery, growth over a year earlier, 2026Per cent, year on year020406080100120140Jan 26: 128.8Jan 26128.8Feb 26: 127.9Feb 26127.9Mar 26: 123.1Mar 26123.1Apr 26: 121.2Apr 26121.2May 26: 105.5May 26105.5Jun 26: 93.8Jun 2693.8Jul 26: 88.1Jul 2688.1Aug 26: 83.2Aug 2683.2
Per cent, year on year
Loans against gold jewellery, growth over a year earlier, 2026020406080100120140Jan26128.8Feb26127.9Mar26123.1Apr26121.2May26105.5Jun2693.8Jul 2688.1Aug2683.2
Each bar is the growth of gold loans over the same month a year earlier, as that month's workbook prints it. The 82 lines are every line with a rate in the two tables except bank credit, food credit, non-food credit and the industries total.
Aug 26: 83.2
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Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 . Each observation's dated source is linked in its CSV row.

View the figures in a table
The fastest-growing line, January to July 2026
ObservationValueOfficial source
Jan 26128.8RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Feb 26127.9RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Mar 26123.1RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Apr 26121.2RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2
May 26105.5RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jun 2693.8RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jul 2688.1RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Aug 2683.2RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2
03 / The evidence

Farm credit behind the headline

Bank credit to agriculture and allied activities, which this brief calls farm credit, has grown more slowly than all non-food bank credit in every one of the 16 months from May 2025 to August 2026. In August 2026 farm credit grew 17.2 per cent, while all non-food bank credit grew 18.8 per cent.

Credit to agriculture and all non-food bank credit, growth over a year earlier, May 2025 to August 2026Per cent, year on yearAgriculture and allied activitiesAll non-food bank credit0510152025May 25May 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 7.57.5May 25, All non-food bank credit: 8.88.8Jun 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 6.86.8Jun 25, All non-food bank credit: 9.39.3Jul 25Jul 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 7.37.3Jul 25, All non-food bank credit: 9.99.9Aug 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 7.67.6Aug 25, All non-food bank credit: 10.210.2Sep 25Sep 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 9.09.0Sep 25, All non-food bank credit: 10.210.2Oct 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 8.98.9Oct 25, All non-food bank credit: 11.111.1Nov 25Nov 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 8.78.7Nov 25, All non-food bank credit: 11.411.4Dec 25, Agriculture and allied activities: 12.112.1Dec 25, All non-food bank credit: 14.414.4Jan 26Jan 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 11.411.4Jan 26, All non-food bank credit: 14.414.4Feb 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 12.312.3Feb 26, All non-food bank credit: 14.314.3Mar 26Mar 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 15.715.7Mar 26, All non-food bank credit: 15.915.9Apr 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 13.713.7Apr 26, All non-food bank credit: 15.815.8May 26May 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 14.914.9May 26, All non-food bank credit: 17.417.4Jun 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 16.816.8Jun 26, All non-food bank credit: 18.318.3Jul 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 17.017.0Jul 26, All non-food bank credit: 19.119.1Aug 26Aug 26, Agriculture and allied activities: 17.217.2Aug 26, All non-food bank credit: 18.818.8Sep 26, expected 30 Oct
Per cent, year on year
Agriculture and allied activitiesAll non-food bank credit
Credit to agriculture and all non-food bank credit, growth over a year earlier, May 2025 to August 2026510152025May258.89.3Jul 259.9Sep2510.2Nov2514.4Jan26Mar2615.9May2617.4Aug2618.8
Sep 26, expected 30 Oct
Each pair of bars is one month, with farm credit in red and all non-food bank credit in navy. Each bar is growth over the same month a year earlier, and the red bar is shorter in every pair. The dotted box marks September 2026, which the Reserve Bank has not yet released.
Aug 26: 17.2
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Source: RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, 30 September 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2025, 30 June 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2025, 31 July 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2025, 29 August 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2025, 30 September 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, September 2025, 31 October 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, October 2025, 28 November 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, November 2025, 31 December 2025 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, 29 May 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, 30 June 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, 31 July 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, 31 August 2026 ; RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, 30 September 2026 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025 . Each observation's dated source is linked in its CSV row.

View the figures in a table
Farm credit behind the headline
ObservationValueOfficial source
May 257.5RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jun 256.8RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jul 257.3RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Aug 257.6RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Sep 259.0RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, September 2025, 31 October 2025
Oct 258.9RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, October 2025, 28 November 2025
Nov 258.7RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, November 2025, 31 December 2025
Dec 2512.1RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025
Jan 2611.4RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Feb 2612.3RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Mar 2615.7RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Apr 2613.7RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2
May 2614.9RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jun 2616.8RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jul 2617.0RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Aug 2617.2RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2
04 / The evidence

The weaker sections

The Reserve Bank reports a line of the priority sector, which its workbooks label "Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF". The Reserve Bank's line for the weaker sections, which includes net priority sector lending certificates, grew more slowly than all non-food bank credit in each month from January to August 2026, eight months in a row, as the workbooks show. The widest gap came in May 2026, when the line grew 9.1 per cent and all non-food bank credit grew 17.4 per cent.

The line "Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF" and all non-food bank credit, growth over a year earlier, 2026Per cent, year on yearWeaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MFAll non-food bank credit0510152025Jan 26Jan 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 11.911.9Jan 26, All non-food bank credit: 14.414.4Feb 26Feb 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 13.513.5Feb 26, All non-food bank credit: 14.314.3Mar 26Mar 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 11.111.1Mar 26, All non-food bank credit: 15.915.9Apr 26Apr 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 10.710.7Apr 26, All non-food bank credit: 15.815.8May 26May 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 9.19.1May 26, All non-food bank credit: 17.417.4Jun 26Jun 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 15.315.3Jun 26, All non-food bank credit: 18.318.3Jul 26Jul 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 15.215.2Jul 26, All non-food bank credit: 19.119.1Aug 26Aug 26, Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF: 14.714.7Aug 26, All non-food bank credit: 18.818.8
Per cent, year on year
Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MFAll non-food bank credit
The line "Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF" and all non-food bank credit, growth over a year earlier, 20260510152025Jan2614.4Feb2614.3Mar2615.9Apr 2615.8May269.117.4Jun2618.3Jul 2619.1Aug2618.8
Each pair of bars is one month of 2026, with the line "Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF" in red and all non-food bank credit in navy. Each bar is growth over the same month a year earlier.
Aug 26: 14.7
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Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2 ; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 . Each observation's dated source is linked in its CSV row.

View the figures in a table
The weaker sections
ObservationValueOfficial source
Jan 2611.9RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Feb 2613.5RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Mar 2611.1RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Apr 2610.7RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2
May 269.1RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jun 2615.3RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Jul 2615.2RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2
Aug 2614.7RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2

Export credit that counts towards the priority sector was lower than a year earlier in each month from January to August 2026. It was 17.2 per cent lower in January, and 9.7 per cent lower in August 2026.

05 / The evidence

The smallest loans

Lenders reported 1,72,97,817 Shishu loan accounts under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) in 2025-26, which is the fewest since the scheme began in 2015-16. That is 68.2 per cent fewer than the 5,44,80,992 accounts of 2019-20, when the count was highest. It is also 37.6 per cent fewer than the 2,77,41,792 accounts of 2024-25, the year before.

Shishu loan accounts under PMMY, each financial yearLakh accounts, each financial year01002003004005006002015-16: 3242015-163242016-17: 3652016-173652017-18: 4272017-184272018-19: 5152018-195152019-20: 5452019-205452020-21: 4022020-214022021-22: 4172021-224172022-23: 4312022-234312023-24: 4162023-244162024-25: 2772024-252772025-26: 1732025-26173
Lakh accounts, each financial year
Shishu loan accounts under PMMY, each financial year1002003004005006002015-163243652017-184275152019-205454022021-224174312023-244162772025-26173
Each bar is the number of Shishu accounts in one financial year, in lakh, as MUDRA's table for that year prints it. The red bar is 2025-26, which is the lowest.
2025-26: 173
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Source: MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2015-16 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2016-17 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2017-18 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2018-19 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2019-20 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2020-21 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2021-22 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2022-23 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2023-24 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2024-25 ; MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2025-26 ; MUDRA, home page, as saved on 18 September 2026 . Each observation's dated source is linked in its CSV row.

View the figures in a table
The smallest loans
ObservationValueOfficial source
2015-16324MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2015-16
2016-17365MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2016-17
2017-18427MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2017-18
2018-19515MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2018-19
2019-20545MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2019-20
2020-21402MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2020-21
2021-22417MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2021-22
2022-23431MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2022-23
2023-24416MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2023-24
2024-25277MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2024-25
2025-26173MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2025-26

MUDRA's own page describes Shishu as "Covering loans upto 50,000/-", which makes it the smallest of the scheme's four kinds of loan.

06 / The evidence

Business entities that owe the least

TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, the Small Industries Development Bank of India, publish a joint report that tracks what business borrowers owe. For business entities whose total borrowing was up to Rs 2 lakh, balances fell by 13 per cent a year from March 2023 to March 2026. For entities that owed Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, balances grew 5 per cent a year, while the next two bands grew 12 and 16 per cent. The figures for January to March 2026 are provisional, as the report says.

Growth of balances by size of business entity, March 2023 to March 2026Per cent a year, compound, March 2023 to March 2026-15-10-505101520Up to Rs 2 lakhUp to Rs 2 lakh: -13 per cent-13 per centRs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakhRs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh: 5 per cent5 per centRs 10 lakh to Rs 2 croreRs 10 lakh to Rs 2 crore: 12 per cent12 per centRs 2 crore to Rs 20 croreRs 2 crore to Rs 20 crore: 16 per cent16 per centRs 20 crore to Rs 100 croreRs 20 crore to Rs 100 crore: 15 per cent15 per cent
Per cent a year, compound, March 2023 to March 2026
Growth of balances by size of business entity, March 2023 to March 2026-15-10-505101520Up to Rs 2 lakh-13 per centRs 2 lakh to Rs 10lakh5 per centRs 10 lakh to Rs 2crore12 percentRs 2 crore to Rs 20crore16 percentRs 20 crore to Rs 100crore
Each bar is the yearly rate at which one band's balances grew or fell, over the three years to March 2026. The red bar is the smallest band, whose balances fell.
Rs 20 crore to Rs 100 crore: 15
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Source: TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, MSME Pulse, July 2026 . Each observation's dated source is linked in its CSV row.

View the figures in a table
Business entities that owe the least
ObservationValueOfficial source
Up to Rs 2 lakh-13TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, MSME Pulse, July 2026
Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh5TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, MSME Pulse, July 2026
Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2 crore12TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, MSME Pulse, July 2026
Rs 2 crore to Rs 20 crore16TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, MSME Pulse, July 2026
Rs 20 crore to Rs 100 crore15TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, MSME Pulse, July 2026
And you

Farm credit, month by month

Bank credit to agriculture and allied activities, which this brief calls farm credit, has grown more slowly than all non-food bank credit in every one of the 16 months from May 2025 to August 2026. In August 2026 farm credit grew 17.2 per cent, while all non-food bank credit grew 18.8 per cent.

Farm credit against all non-food bank credit

Each month shows how fast farm credit grew over a year earlier, and how fast all non-food bank credit grew, as the Reserve Bank prints both.

January 202611.4farm credit, against 14.4 for all non-food credit, per cent
February 202612.3farm credit, against 14.3 for all non-food credit, per cent
March 202615.7farm credit, against 15.9 for all non-food credit, per cent
April 202613.7farm credit, against 15.8 for all non-food credit, per cent
May 202614.9farm credit, against 17.4 for all non-food credit, per cent
June 202616.8farm credit, against 18.3 for all non-food credit, per cent
July 202617.0farm credit, against 19.1 for all non-food credit, per cent
August 202617.2farm credit, against 18.8 for all non-food credit, per cent

Source: RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2; RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2.

The coming figures will be read against September 2025, when farm credit grew 9.0 per cent and all non-food bank credit grew 10.2 per cent, as the release of 31 October 2025 printed them.

On the Reserve Bank's own figures, gold loans reached 7.69 per cent of personal loans on 31 July 2026, which is the highest since January 2019, and they were 7.68 per cent on 31 August 2026. Farm credit grew more slowly than all non-food bank credit, and it did so in every one of the 16 months from May 2025 to August 2026.

Terms, explained

Sectoral deployment of bank credit
The Reserve Bank's monthly release on how much banks have lent to each sector, such as farming, industry, services and personal loans.
Gold loans
This brief's short name for the line that the Reserve Bank calls loans against gold jewellery, which sits within personal loans.
Farm credit
This brief's short name for the line that the Reserve Bank calls agriculture and allied activities.
Non-food bank credit
All bank credit except the credit given for buying food grains, which the Reserve Bank reports for every scheduled commercial bank.
Weaker sections
A part of the priority sector that the Reserve Bank reports each month. Its table labels the line "Weaker Sections including net PSLC- SF/MF", under "Priority Sector (Memo)".
Shishu
The smallest of the four kinds of loan under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, which MUDRA describes as covering loans up to Rs 50,000.
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Sources & method

Every figure on bank credit in this brief comes from the Reserve Bank of India. Each month the Reserve Bank publishes a release and a workbook, "Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit", which show how much banks have lent to each sector.

In 2026 the sector figures come from a return filed by 41 select banks, which together hold about 95 per cent of the non-food credit of all scheduled commercial banks.

The figure for all non-food bank credit comes from a second return, which covers every scheduled commercial bank. The Reserve Bank marks these data provisional and prints the two rates side by side in each release, as this brief does.

A growth rate here compares a month's outstanding credit with the same month a year earlier. The rates for 2026 are the Reserve Bank's own, printed in its workbooks and releases. This brief works out December 2025 from the Reserve Bank's DBIE table of the Bulletin, because its release for that month is not saved here.

This brief works out the share of loans against gold jewellery from two lines of the same table on the same date: loans against gold jewellery, and all personal loans. The monthly series runs from January 2019 in the Reserve Bank's DBIE table, and from January 2026 in its monthly workbooks. The two sources agree on every date they share. The panel of reporting banks has changed since 2019, so each month's share comes from the panel of that month.

The figures on Shishu loans are MUDRA's own, from its Overall Performance table for each financial year. They count loan accounts and not distinct people. The figures on balances by size of borrower are those of TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI.

  1. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  2. RBI, Database on Indian Economy, deployment of gross bank credit by major sectors (Bulletin Table 15), January 2019 to December 2025 .
  3. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2026, 30 September 2026 .
  4. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2025, 30 June 2025 .
  5. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2025, 31 July 2025 .
  6. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2025, 29 August 2025 .
  7. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, August 2025, 30 September 2025 .
  8. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, September 2025, 31 October 2025 .
  9. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, October 2025, 28 November 2025 .
  10. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, November 2025, 31 December 2025 .
  11. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, 29 May 2026 .
  12. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, 30 June 2026 .
  13. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, 31 July 2026 .
  14. RBI press release, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, 31 August 2026 .
  15. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, January 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  16. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, February 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  17. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, March 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  18. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, April 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  19. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, May 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  20. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, June 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  21. RBI, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, July 2026, Statements 1 and 2 .
  22. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2015-16 .
  23. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2016-17 .
  24. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2017-18 .
  25. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2018-19 .
  26. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2019-20 .
  27. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2020-21 .
  28. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2021-22 .
  29. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2022-23 .
  30. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2023-24 .
  31. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2024-25 .
  32. MUDRA, PMMY Overall Performance, 2025-26 .
  33. MUDRA, home page, as saved on 18 September 2026 .
  34. TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI, MSME Pulse, July 2026 .
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