HSBC Flash India PMI®
India recorded robust but softer economic growth in June according to the HSBC Flash India PMI data collected between 10-18 June 2026. The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index fell from 59.3 in May to a preliminary reading of 57.4 in June, signaling the weakest expansion rate since March. This slowdown was widespread across both manufacturing and services sectors.
The HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business Activity Index declined to 57.3 from 59.8 in May, representing a 17-month low. The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI Output Index eased to 57.4 from 58.0, marking a two-month low. The headline HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI slipped to a three-month low of 54.5 from 55.0 in May.
New orders growth slowed to the weakest pace in three months, with competitive pressures, rising fuel prices, and gas shortages cited as hindrances. Export trends were mixed, with services showing faster growth while manufacturing exports increased at the weakest pace since March 2023. At the composite level, international sales expanded at the slowest pace in 21 months.
Employment expansion moderated to the least extent in the current six-month sequence of growth, with hiring activity at both goods producers and service providers being the least marked since December 2025. Outstanding business volumes were broadly unchanged, indicating sufficient staffing levels for current requirements.
Input cost inflation eased for the third successive month to its lowest since January, with panellists citing higher chemical, food, fuel, gas, metal, and utility costs. Cost pressures remained more pronounced in manufacturing than services. Output charges rose at a modest pace, the least pronounced in six months, as businesses showed reluctance to raise fees amid challenging demand conditions.
Business confidence weakened to the lowest level since January and below the long-run series average. Notably, manufacturer optimism fell to the lowest in nearly four years. Consequently, manufacturing buying activity rose at the weakest pace in two-and-a-half years, with softer increases in stocks of purchases and an outright decline in inventories of finished products.