India Salary Hike 2026: Increment and Attrition Data by Industry

Increments fell from 10.6% in 2022 to 8.9% in 2025, then flattened. The 2026 actual and 2027 projection suggest employers have settled at roughly this level rather than cutting further.

Attrition dropped every year to 16.2% in 2025, then turned up to 18% in 2026. More people are moving again, though not at the 2022 pace of 21.4%.

Technology consulting and services sits well below every other sector at 6.6%. Every other industry landed between 8.2% and 10.2%, so the sector you work in can shift your hike by more than three percentage points.

Three surveys with different samples landed between 9% and 9.1% for 2026. When independent forecasts agree this closely, you can treat the number as a fair market benchmark.

Government survey data covers far more workers than corporate pay surveys. Male salaried earnings rose from ₹22,891 in 2024 to ₹24,217 in 2025, about 5.8%, which is slower than the corporate increment averages.

Salary increase by industry in India: 2025 actual vs 2026 projected (Aon, February 2026)

Source: Aon plc, Aon Survey Projects Slight Uptick in Salaries in India From 8.9 Percent in 2025 to 9.1 Percent in 2026 (Annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey 2025-26 India). Download as image

Highest projected salary increases in India for 2027 (Aon 2026-27 survey)

Source: Aon plc, reported by IANS via Telangana Today, Annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey for India 2026-27 (IANS report: Salaries in India likely to rise 9.1pc in 2027, Aon survey finds); Free Press Journal (reporting Aon plc survey), India's Salary Growth Likely To Hold At 9.1 Per Cent In 2026-27 Despite Global Uncertainty: Aon Survey. Download as image

Employee attrition in India in 2025 by survey

Source: Aon plc, Aon Survey Projects Slight Uptick in Salaries in India From 8.9 Percent in 2025 to 9.1 Percent in 2026 (Annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey 2025-26 India); Deloitte India, Average increment in India is expected to be 9.1 percent in 2026 (Deloitte India Talent Outlook 2026). Download as image

Average monthly earnings by employment type and sex, India (PLFS)

Source: National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, Press Note on Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Annual Report, 2025 [January 2025 to December 2025]. Download as image

Is a 9% salary hike good in 2026?

It is average, and average is the right word to use with care. Survey figures blend top performers, who often get well above the mean, with people who got little or nothing. If your appraisal letter says 9%, you received roughly what the market paid. If it says less and your rating was good, you have a reason to ask questions.

Inflation is the other test. Retail inflation was 5.54% in September 2026, up from 4.83% in August. A hike in the market range still beats prices, but the cushion is thinner than it looks on paper. Your own costs, such as rent and school fees, can rise faster than the national index.

Timing matters too. Most companies announce hikes once a year, and the letter often arrives after the new financial year has started. If your increment is backdated, confirm the arrears will be paid and in which month. If it is not, a late cycle quietly shrinks the raise.

Check what the percentage applies to. Many hikes are stated on total CTC, which can include variable pay, employer PF and benefits you never see in your bank account. A raise on fixed pay is worth more than the same raise on a CTC padded with a bonus that depends on company results.

How low are IT salary hikes in 2026?

Technology consulting and services had the lowest projected increase of any sector at 6.6% for 2026, down from 7% actual in 2025. It was also the lowest sector in 2025, so this is not a one-year dip. The sector has trailed the overall figure by about two percentage points or more in both years.

Tech is not one market, though. Technology platform and products companies were projected at 9.4%, and global capability centres at 9.3%. An engineer who moves from a services firm to a product company or a GCC is moving into a different pay band, not just a different employer. That gap is one reason a switch can pay more than staying for the next appraisal.

Why did attrition rise to 18% in 2026?

Overall attrition climbed to 18% in 2026, up from 16.2% in 2025, which was the lowest in Aon's recent series. Deloitte's survey put 2025 attrition at 17.6%. After a few quiet years, more people are changing jobs again.

For workers, higher attrition usually means more bargaining room. Employers who are losing people tend to sweeten offers with joining bonuses, retention payments and faster promotions. Those sweeteners often come with strings: repayment if you leave within a set period, longer notice periods, or a training bond. Read those terms as carefully as the salary figure.

If you are being counter-offered, slow down. A counter-offer usually matches the outside number on paper, but check whether it comes as fixed pay or as a one-time retention bonus with a repayment clause. The first moves your base for every future hike. The second does not.

For employers, rising exits get expensive. Replacing someone often costs more than keeping them, so a slightly better increment for strong performers can be cheaper than another recruitment round.

Which industries pay the highest salary hikes in India?

For 2027, NBFCs lead the projections at 10.1%, followed by energy at 9.9% and real estate and infrastructure at 9.8%. In the 2026 forecasts, real estate and infrastructure topped the list at 10.2%, with NBFCs at 10.1% and automotive and engineering design services both at 9.9%.

The 2026 forecasts also showed some sectors slowing. Funds and asset management dropped from 9.7% actual in 2025 to 8.5% projected for 2026, and real estate eased from 10.5% to 10.2%. Retail moved the other way, from 9% to 9.5%.

The pattern is steady. NBFCs and real estate sit near the top in both years. Banking, life insurance and chemicals sat below the overall average in the 2026 forecasts. If you are early in your career and flexible about sector, this spread compounds. A small yearly gap turns into a large one over a career, and it is worth more than any single appraisal.

What the numbers mean for freelancers and businesses

Corporate surveys track payroll, but they still help if you work for yourself. Your clients' salary budgets are rising around 9%. If your day rate has stayed flat for a long stretch while their in-house costs went up, you have a reasonable case for a revision. Government data shows self-employed earnings growing too, though from a lower base than salaried pay.

Write the review into the contract. A retainer that says rates will be reviewed each year, with notice of any change, turns a nervous conversation into a routine one. Without that clause, many clients assume your rate is fixed until you leave.

For small businesses, the market rate tells you what it costs to keep people. Falling well below it in a year of rising attrition invites resignations. Budgeting near the average for most staff, and above it for the people you cannot afford to lose, is the usual approach.

How to use these numbers in your next appraisal or offer

• Compare your hike to your own sector's figure, not the national average. A 9% raise is strong in technology services and below par in an NBFC.
• Ask whether the percentage applies to fixed pay or to total CTC, and get the new fixed salary in writing.
• When you get an offer, check how much of the package is variable and what the payout depends on.
• Before you accept a joining or retention bonus, read the clawback period and how the repayment is calculated.
• If you freelance on a retainer, add a yearly rate review to the contract so a revision is expected rather than awkward.
• Keep the survey source handy. Naming a published benchmark makes the conversation about the market, not about you.

Sources and method

Every number on this page comes from the sources below, each opened and read on or before October 17, 2026. A second, independent review checked every figure against its source and corrected anything that did not match. Figures that could not be confirmed were left out.

1. Aon plc, reported by IANS via Telangana Today, Annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey for India 2026-27 (IANS report: Salaries in India likely to rise 9.1pc in 2027, Aon survey finds) (14 October 2026)
2. Free Press Journal (reporting Aon plc survey), India's Salary Growth Likely To Hold At 9.1 Per Cent In 2026-27 Despite Global Uncertainty: Aon Survey (14 October 2026)
3. Aon plc, Aon Survey Projects Slight Uptick in Salaries in India From 8.9 Percent in 2025 to 9.1 Percent in 2026 (Annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey 2025-26 India) (24 February 2026)
4. Aon plc, Salaries in India to Increase by 9.2 Percent in 2025 Amidst Global Uncertainty and Softening Growth, Aon Study (19 February 2025)
5. Aon plc, Aon Survey Projects Salaries in India to Increase by 9.5 Percent in 2024 (Annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey 2023-24 India) (21 February 2024)
6. Aon plc, Aon Survey Projects Double-Digit Salary Growth to Continue in India Despite Economic Volatility (23 February 2023)
7. Deloitte India, Average increment in India is expected to be 9.1 percent in 2026 (Deloitte India Talent Outlook 2026) (6 April 2026)
8. PTI via The Week, India Inc to see 9 pc salary growth in 2026 with focus on short-term incentives: Report (Mercer India Total Remuneration Survey 2026) (17 December 2025)
9. National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, Press Note on Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Annual Report, 2025 [January 2025 to December 2025] (27 March 2026)
10. National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, Press Release of Consumer Price Index on Base 2024=100 for September, 2026 (12 October 2026)