The Hindu Business Line : Enterprises, workers in unorganised sector on the rise in Kerala

In terms of the number of enterprises, Ernakulam district ranked first with 11 per cent of the total enterprises in the State, while Wayanad district came last with three per cent.

Thiruvananthapuram , Jan. 12

The number of enterprises and workers in the unorganised sector in Kerala has been on the rise, even as the average number of workers per enterprise has shown a declining trend.

According to the latest Economic Census conducted by the Economics and Statistics Department, the number of enterprises increased to 28.48 lakh in 2005 from 1.71 lakh in 1977 when the first census was carried out.

At the same time, the number of workers increased to 55.59 lakh in 2005 from 14.07 lakh in 1971. The average annual growth rate of enterprises was 8.93 per cent over the preceding census in 1998.

DATA ON HOUSEHOLDS

The total number of households in the State was 76.28 lakh, of which 57.40 lakh were in rural areas and the remaining 18.88 lakh in urban areas. This was reflected in the number of enterprises in the rural and urban areas at 21.17 lakh and 7.31 lakh, respectively.

The share of female workers in the total persons employed in the unorganised sector in Kerala was 34.4 per cent, which was much higher than the all-India average of 19.3 per cent. The female workers constituted 36.64 per cent of the workforce in rural areas, while it was 30.10 per cent in urban areas.

The density of enterprises in the State was 73 per square km. Of this, the density of agricultural enterprises was 23 per square km and that of non-agricultural enterprises 50 per square km.

Ernakulam first

In terms of the number of enterprises, Ernakulam district ranked first with 11 per cent of the total enterprises in the State, while Wayanad district came last with three per cent. In the case of number of workers, too, Ernakulam and Wayanad were placed first and last with 12 per cent and three per cent, respectively.

The average number of employees per enterprise was two in rural areas and three in urban areas. In the case of the number of enterprises employing 10 or more workers, Thiruvananthapuram district topped the list with 16 per cent of the total of such enterprises, while Idukki was placed at the bottom with two per cent.

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