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Prelims · Economy & social development · 24 questions

National income, growth & inflation

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

National income, growth & inflation questions per year: 2016: 0, 2017: 0, 2018: 2, 2019: 2, 2020: 2, 2021: 2, 2022: 1, 2023: 0, 2024: 2, 2025: 0, 2026: 0 Asked in 6 of 11 years · most in 2024 (2)

UPSC syllabus: “Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.” See the full syllabus →

Prelims 2017 · Q77

Easy

Which of the following has/have occurred in India after its liberalization of economic policies in 1991?

  1. 1.Share of agriculture in GDP increased enormously.
  2. 2.Share of India’s exports in world trade increased.
  3. 3.FDI inflows increased.
  4. 4.India’s foreign exchange reserves increased enormously.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2, 3 and 4 only

After 1991 India's exports, FDI inflows and foreign exchange reserves all rose sharply, while agriculture's share in GDP kept falling as industry and services grew faster. So statements 2, 3 and 4 are true and 1 is false.

  • ✗ 1. The share of agriculture in GDP was on a decline, even though the workforce dependent on farming did not fall much. It did not increase.
  • ✓ 2. India's share in world merchandise exports rose from 0.5 per cent in 1990 to 0.8 per cent in 2003, according to the Economic Survey 2005-06.
  • ✓ 3. Opening the economy led to a rapid increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign institutional investment.
  • ✓ 4. Foreign exchange reserves rose from about US $ 6 billion in 1990-91 to about US $ 646 billion in 2023-24, a very large increase.

Remember · Post-1991 India: agriculture's share in GDP fell, while exports, FDI and forex reserves rose sharply.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Economic Development, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Indian Economic Development, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2017 · Q94

Medium

Consider the following statements:

  1. 1.Tax revenue as a percent of GDP of India has steadily increased in the last decade.
  2. 2.Fiscal deficit as a percent of GDP of India has steadily increased in the last decade.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Neither ratio rose steadily over the decade to 2016-17. The tax-to-GDP ratio hovered around 10 per cent from 2008-09 and crossed 11 per cent only in 2016-17, while the Centre's fiscal deficit jumped to 6.5 per cent of GDP in 2009-10 and then fell to 3.5 per cent by 2016-17.

  • ✗ 1. The Union Budget documents for 2017-18 say the gross tax-to-GDP ratio had been stagnating in the range of 10 per cent since 2008-09; it was estimated to cross 11 per cent only in 2016-17, for the first time since 2007-08. That is stagnation and a late rise, not a steady increase.
  • ✗ 2. The Centre's fiscal deficit was 6.0 per cent of GDP in 2008-09 and 6.5 per cent in 2009-10, then fell year after year to 3.5 per cent in 2016-17. The trend was downward consolidation, not a steady increase.

Remember · Tax-to-GDP stayed near 10 per cent for most of 2008-09 to 2015-16, and the Centre's fiscal deficit fell from 6.5 per cent (2009-10) to 3.5 per cent (2016-17).

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The same topic in Mains

Read it in NCERT

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