Economic Survey 2025-26 Highlights Digital Expansion and Addiction Concerns
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025-26 in Parliament on Thursday, 29 January, presenting a comprehensive analysis of India's economic landscape. The document provides detailed insights into various sectors, with particular emphasis on the nation's digital transformation and its societal implications.
Digital Growth Reaches Household Scale Across India
The Economic Survey 2025-26 has highlighted how India's digital expansion has achieved remarkable scale, extending beyond urban centers into rural households through widespread internet access, smartphone penetration, and robust public digital infrastructure. With connectivity now reaching villages and small towns across the country, the Survey notes that digital access barriers have significantly diminished.
India's digital economy has experienced sharp expansion over the past decade, driven by multiple factors including affordable data plans, mass smartphone adoption, and systematic development of public digital platforms. The Survey estimates that the digital sector contributed close to 12% of national income in 2022-23, with projections indicating this share will rise above 13% by 2024-25.
Infrastructure Development Enables Widespread Access
Internet connections have increased nearly fourfold since 2014, reaching almost one billion by 2024 according to Survey data. This remarkable growth has been facilitated by strategic infrastructure initiatives including the rollout of 5G services and BharatNet fibre connectivity to more than two lakh gram panchayats, playing a crucial role in extending digital access deep into rural India.
By 2025, over 85% of households owned at least one smartphone, signaling near-universal reach of digital technology across socioeconomic segments. This widespread adoption has fundamentally transformed how Indians interact with technology on a daily basis.
Changing Digital Usage Patterns Across Demographics
Usage patterns reflect this massive scale of digital adoption. Nearly half of all internet users regularly consume online video content, while social media platforms, email services, music streaming applications, and digital payment systems have become integral to daily life for millions. In absolute terms, this amounts to several tens of crores of Indians engaging with digital platforms on a regular basis.
The Survey documents how digital tools have become embedded in various aspects of economic and social activity, from financial transactions and entertainment to education and communication.
Youth Face Challenges in Always-Online Environment
The Economic Survey points out that young Indians, particularly those aged 15 to 29, are now growing up in an intensely digital environment. With mobile and internet access almost universal in this age group, the primary challenge has shifted from connectivity issues to managing the consequences of high-intensity digital engagement.
The report highlights multiple risks associated with compulsive digital behavior, including significant loss of study time among students, reduced productivity in workplace settings, and financial losses resulting from impulsive online activities, gaming, and digital fraud schemes. Over extended periods, such trends could potentially affect employability prospects, lifetime earnings potential, and overall economic output.
Understanding Digital Addiction as Behavioral Concern
Digital addiction, as explained in the Survey, refers to excessive or compulsive engagement with digital devices and online activities that causes measurable distress and interferes with daily functioning. This behavioral pattern can manifest across various digital platforms including smartphones, social media applications, online gaming environments, streaming services, and broader internet usage.
Such compulsive digital behavior can impair concentration abilities, disrupt healthy sleep patterns, and weaken offline social skills development. The Survey further notes that prolonged screen time may gradually erode social capital by reducing face-to-face interaction opportunities and diminishing participation in community life activities.
Balancing Digital Benefits with Behavioral Health
While celebrating India's digital achievements, the Economic Survey 2025-26 emphasizes that excessive and compulsive use of digital platforms is emerging as a growing behavioral and public health concern. The document calls for balanced approaches that harness digital technology's benefits while addressing potential negative impacts on mental health and social wellbeing.
The Survey's findings suggest that as digital access becomes nearly universal, policy focus must evolve from infrastructure development to promoting healthy digital habits, particularly among vulnerable populations including youth and adolescents.
