HSBC India Services PMI®
The HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index registered 55.8 in October 2026, rising from 55.2 in September and indicating the strongest pace of growth in four months. The reading was comfortably above the neutral mark of 50.0 and its long-run average, reflecting sustained expansion in India's service economy.
Business activity growth was driven by strong increases in new orders, which expanded at the fastest rate since June. Favourable demand conditions, new client wins, and successful advertising boosted order intakes across all four broad service sectors. Finance & Insurance led the growth in both output and new business, while Real Estate & Business Services ranked last in the rankings.
Domestic market demand was the primary driver of sales growth, as new export business increased only marginally at the weakest pace since February 2023. The composite PMI Output Index, which combines manufacturing and services, rose to 56.2 in October from 55.9 in September, marking the fastest rise in aggregate output in four months.
Input cost inflation retreated to its lowest level since August 2020, rising at a negligible pace that was well below trend. Some firms reported greater outlays on electricity, labour, raw materials, and transportation. Cost pressures were most intense in the Consumer Services segment, which was the only category to see a stronger upturn than in September, while Finance & Insurance recorded the softest rate of inflation.
Fewer than 3% of service providers increased their selling prices, resulting in marginal output charge inflation at the slowest rate since June. Services companies reduced their backlogs for the third time in four months, albeit moderately. Consequently, employment growth eased to the joint-weakest pace in the current ten-month period of job creation, remaining only fractional overall.
Business optimism faded in October, with the level of positive sentiment falling below its long-run average despite companies remaining confident about output growth over the coming 12 months. The survey data was collected from 9-28 October 2026 from a panel of approximately 400 service sector companies, stratified by detailed sector and company workforce size based on contributions to GDP.