Economy of Tamil Nadu

Economy of Tamil Nadu
Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu
CurrencyIndian rupee (INR, ₹)
1 April – 31 March
Country group
Statistics
Population77,100,000
GDP 35.678 trillion (US$420 billion) (nominal; 2025 est.) $1.76 trillion (PPP; 2025 est.)
GDP rank2nd
GDP growth
16% (2025-26)
GDP per capita
$5,443 (nominal; 2025 est.) $22,944(PPP; 2025 est.)
GDP per capita rank
9th
GDP by sector
Services: 54% (2020–21)
Industry: 33%
Agriculture: 13%
Population below poverty line
1.69% (2024)
0.741 high (2023) (14th)
Unemployment 4.1% (Dec 2022)
External
Exports5.83 lakh crore (US$69 billion) (2024–25)
Export goods
Automobiles, mobile phones, software, missile defense, electronics, telecommunications equipment, armaments, locomotives, ships, machinery, steel, aluminium, transportation equipment, tyres, textiles, footwear, leather, chemicals, cement, plastics, toys, food processing, seafood, vegetables, fruits, tea and coffee
Main export partners
 Australia
FDI stock
28,049 crore (US$3.3 billion) (2017–18)
Public finances
26.29% of GSDP (2022–23 est.)
−90,114 crore (US$−11 billion) (3.63% of GSDP) (2022–23 est.)
Revenues2.36 lakh crore (US$28 billion) (2022–23 est.)
Expenses3.33 lakh crore (US$39 billion) (2022–23 est.)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

Tamil Nadu has the second-largest economy of any state in India. The state is also the most industrialised in the country. The state is 48.40% urbanised, accounting for around 9.26% of the urban population in the country, while the state as a whole accounted for 5.96% of India's total population in the 2011 census. Services contribute to 54% of the gross domestic product of the state, followed by manufacturing at 33% and agriculture at 13%.

Government is the major investor in the state, with 52% of total investments, followed by private Indian investors at 29.9% and foreign private investors at 14.9%. It has been ranked as the most economically free state in India by the Economic Freedom Rankings for the States of India.