The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has crossed 13 crore unique registered investors thanks to a sharp acceleration in retail participation, with the latest 1 crore addition coming in just about seven months since September 2025.
The total number of client codes stood at 25.7 crore as of April 25, 2026, after breaching the 25-crore mark in February. Growth has picked up markedly, with the investor base expanding at a 26.4 per cent CAGR during FY21–FY26, compared with 15.2 per cent in the previous five-year period, NSE said on Monday.
Benchmark indices delivered five-year annualised returns of 10.8 per cent for Nifty50 and 13.3 per cent for Nifty 500. Market capitalisation of NSE-listed firms rose at an 18 per cent CAGR to ₹460.6 lakh crore, while individual investors now hold 18.6 per cent of the market as of December 2025.
The base age is getting younger and more diverse. Median age has declined to 33 years from 36 in FY21, with nearly 40 per cent of investors below 30. Women account for nearly one in four investors.
Geographically, participation has widened to 99.85 per cent of India’s pincodes. Maharashtra leads with 2 crore investors, followed by Uttar Pradesh (1.5 crore) and Gujarat (1.1 crore). States beyond the top 10 now account for 27 per cent of the base, with sharp growth in smaller states such as Arunachal Pradesh (7.9x), Mizoram (8.7x) and Assam (6.9x).
Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer, NSE, said: “The progress has not been confined to established urban centres and has expanded meaningfully across Tier 2/3/4 cities… all signs of an increasingly resilient and inclusive capital market ecosystem.”
A total of 7.2 crore SIP accounts were opened in FY26, while average monthly SIP inflows increased to ₹29,132 crore from ₹3,660 crore in FY17.
Mobile trading now accounts for over a fifth of cash market turnover. NSE has scaled investor education, with awareness programmes rising five-fold to 17,764 in FY26, covering over 9.3 lakh participants. Its Investor Protection Fund stood at ₹2,871 crore, up 16.8 per cent year-on-year.