Registered investor base near 11 crore mark with UP adding most new entrants in 2024

The retail investor base now stands at 10.7 crore as of November, and the growth seems poised to continue in 2025 as well.

The year 2024 saw continued investor interest with the registered investor base now nudging near the 11 crore mark as of November, showed latest NSE data.

This pace of growth has continued after the total number of registered investors crossed 9-crore mark in February, and then hit the 10-crore milestone in August 2024, taking just five months. The retail investor base now stands at 10.7 crore as of November, and the growth seems poised to continue in 2025 as well.

The market correction in October-November and concerns over economic slowdown did put off investors albeit mildly, showed NSE data, as the pace of new investor additions moderated in the last two months. The November addition was a seven-month low of 15.2 lakh investors, weighed down for a second month in a row by disappointing commentary around corporate earnings and a consumption slowdown, as reflected in the second-quarter GDP numbers. This fall in new investor registrations in November was visible across all regions of India.

"Notwithstanding the recent moderation, the monthly run-rate of new investor registrations remained robust at 19 lakh in the first eight months of the fiscal, versus 13.4 lakh in FY24," the report added.

North India has emerged as the biggest contributor to this growth, with a registered investor base of 3.9 crore. In FY22, Western India was the region that had contributed the most number of registered investors, but since then, the top spot has been retained by North India for a third year in a row. State-wise, Maharashtra continues to lead in terms of registered investors, but its share in the overall pie has been falling, from around 20% in FY15 to now 16.5% in November this year. Uttar Pradesh is at the second position, having crossed the one crore registered investor milestone in April, and touching 1.2 crore mark in November 2024.

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The age profile reveals that India's investors continued to get younger, with the mean age further falling to 35.8 years in November, from 36.8 years in March 2024. The share of investors who are below 30 years of age has remained steady at 39.9%, NSE's November data revealed. The trend of women investors rising has continued to play out, with November 2024 data showing female participation at 24%, higher than the 22% seen in FY22.

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Turnover in cash as well as futures and options segment fell in November, partly due to concerns over global uncertainties, FPI selling, and subdued earnings growth, said the NSE December market report. For the F&O segment, of course, the turnover contracted following regulatory measures taken by capital market regulator Sebi to rein in excessive speculation in the segment.

India outperformed the broader emerging market pack in 2024 after hitting a record highs in September, but Nifty 50 saw a 11% correction after that. Still, the index is sitting at a year-to-date gain of 10.2%. The Net FPI outflow in November was at $2.6 billion, however, foreign investors looked to find value in the correction and bought net $2.7 billion worth of shares in December so far (as of December 19).

Globally, NSE remained the largest multi-asset exchange, third largest equity exchange, and sixth biggest in terms of market capitalisation at $5.25 trillion as of November 2024.