Fresh accounts at 1.51 crore in 2025, lowest addition since 2022: NSE data

markets

• 2025 investor sign-ups hit 3-year low, says NSE data.
• 1.51 crore new accounts opened in 2025, down from 2.36 crore in 2024
• Volatile markets and weaker small-cap activity cited as reasons for slowdown

Did our AI summary help?

New investor sign-ups slowed sharply in 2025 so far, marking the slowest pace of account openings in three years, according to recent data released by the NSE. The data showed that 1.51 crore new accounts were opened so far in 2025, compared with 2.36 crore fresh accounts added in 2024 and 1.6 crore in 2023.

NSE's total registered investors stood at around 12.4 crore as of December 19, 2025, compared with 10.89 crore in 2024.

Market participants attributed the slowdown to volatile market conditions during the year, while highlighting that the total number of clients continued to rise. They said the moderation reflected weaker activity in small-cap and related segments, where retail investors are more active, even as the number of active users overall has not declined significantly.

Indian markets remained volatile during the period. So far in 2025, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty have gained about 9 percent each, while broader markets showed divergent trends, with the BSE MidCap index up 0.5 percent and the BSE SmallCap index down 9 percent.

The decline in new account openings during 2025 was spread across states and regions. The six largest contributor states—Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Rajasthan—together accounted for 53.34 percent of new accounts so far in 2025, compared with 53.68 percent in 2024.

Maharashtra remained the single largest contributor, adding 1.97 crore new investors during the year so far. Uttar Pradesh followed with 1.44 crore registrations, while Gujarat added 1.07 crore new accounts. West Bengal contributed 73 lakh new registrations, Rajasthan added 71 lakh, and Tamil Nadu recorded 70 lakh new investor sign-ups during the period.