Business activity in India’s private sector increases, but expansion rate eases to 10-month low in December

16 Dec 2025 Evaluate

India’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data report has showed that business activity in the country’s private sector continued to increase sharply in December 2025. However, the rate of expansion eased, with softer growth seen across both the manufacturing and service sectors. The HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index - a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors - fell to 10-month low of 58.9 in December from 59.7 in November 2025, growing at its slowest pace since February. However, the index remained well above the 50.0 no-change mark and therefore signalling a further steep expansion of business activity across the private sector. 

The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI - a weighted average of the New Orders, Output, Employment, Suppliers’ Delivery Times and Stocks of Purchases indices - fell from 56.6 in November to 55.7 in December.  According to the report, slower rises in business activity were seen in both the manufacturing and service sectors. The weaker increases in output reflected an easing of growth in new orders, which nonetheless continued to rise sharply amid reports of improving customer demand. While the pace of expansion in total new orders eased, the rate of growth in new export orders accelerated in December and was at a three-month high. 

The report noted that inflationary pressures remained muted in December. Input costs increased modestly, and at a pace that was only slightly faster than the near five-and-a-half-year low posted in November. In addition, the pace of inflation was slower than the series average. Mild increases were seen across both the manufacturing and service sectors. In turn, output prices also increased modestly, and at the second-slowest pace in the past nine months. The rate of inflation seen in December was weaker than the average across 2025 as a whole. Services charges rose at a slightly sharper pace than was seen in November, but the rate of selling price inflation in manufacturing eased for the second month running and was the weakest since March.

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