Careers360 Logo
ask-icon
share
    CA Day 2025: The Supply-Demand Gap in India’s Accountancy Profession

    CA Day 2025: The Supply-Demand Gap in India’s Accountancy Profession

    Shubham BhakuniUpdated on 02 Jul 2025, 11:56 AM IST

    July 1 is celebrated as Chartered Accountancy Day in India every year. This year, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is celebrating its 77th CA Day to commemorate the establishment of the CA Institute in 1949. In 1950, India had just 1689 registered chartered accountants; the numbers increased to 4,03,617 in 2024. These include registered associates and fellows.

    CA Day 2025: The Supply-Demand Gap in India’s Accountancy Profession
    CA Day 2025

    While it took the institute 77 years to achieve 4 Lakh registered CAs, it has set a target of over 30 Lakh CAs by 2047. This target, according to the former ICAI President Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, aligns with India’s larger objectives of a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

    As of 2025, India, the fourth-largest economy, has a nominal GDP of approximately 4 trillion. trillion. It needs to add over 1 trillion every year for the next 23 years to reach the ambitious target of $30 trillion. A growth rate of close to 9.24%.

    An economy of such scale requires more chartered accountants, and the ICAI, aiming for over 30 Lakh registered CAs by 2047, is ambitious, yet reasonable.

    Supply vs Demand in CA Profession

    Every year, CA Final exams are conducted. Earlier, the exams were held twice a year. The ICAI New Scheme of Education and Training, launched in 2024, increased the frequency of Final exams to thrice a year.

    In 2024, India added 31,946 new chartered accountants — 20,445 after May 2024 CA Final results and 11,500 after November 2024 results. Before this, 22,080 CAs were added in 2023, 25,274 in 2022, and 26,893 in 2021.

    In the last four years, India has added an average of 26,548 new CAs every year. If the institute continues with the current rate, it will take 97.8 years to reach the target of 30 Lakh CAs without considering the attrition rate (CAs leaving the profession). With an additional exam window, these numbers are expected to improve, but the target of 30 Lakh registered CAs will remain challenging.

    Year

    Number of Students Passed

    2024

    31,946

    2023

    22,080

    2022

    25,274

    2021

    26,893

    2020

    11,067

    2019

    28,756

    2018

    24,212

    2017

    19,755

    How many CAs does India need per year?

    Considering the target of 30 Lakh registered CAs by 2047, India will have to add close to 26 Lakh CAs. This means around 1.12 Lakh CAs per year, or around 37,333 students qualifying in each session. It also means a significant increase in the CA pass percentage.

    Decadal growth of CA profession

    Year

    Associates

    Fellows

    Total CAs

    Decadal Growth Rate (%)

    1950

    1,120

    569

    1,689

    1951

    1,285

    672

    1,957

    1961

    4,059

    1,590

    5,649

    234.50%

    1971

    7,901

    3,326

    11,227

    98.70%

    1981

    16,796

    8,642

    25,438

    126.50%

    1991

    36,862

    22,136

    58,998

    131.90%

    2001

    51,603

    44,789

    96,392

    63.40%

    2011

    101,636

    68,974

    170,610

    77.00%

    2021

    223,344

    103,737

    327,081

    91.70%

    2024

    287,900

    115,717

    403,617

    Source: ICAI 75th annual report

    How many students register for the CA course?

    At the entry level — the CA Foundation, the number of students registering for the course has grown slowly in the last three years. In 2021, close to 1.21 lakh students registered for the Foundation. In 2022, the numbers rose marginally to 1.25 Lakh. As per the latest data from the 75th CA annual report, 1.38 lakh students registered for the programme in 2023.

    The ICAI New Scheme of Education brought an additional attempt annually. Additionally, the new scheme also reduces the time to complete CA courses by two months, from 44 to 42 months. However, the pass percentage in CA exams has historically remained very low, ranging from 10-20%.

    Articles
    |
    Upcoming Finance Exams
    Ongoing Dates
    Application Date

    3 Mar'26 - 16 Mar'26 (Online)

    Ongoing Dates
    Application Date

    3 Mar'26 - 16 Mar'26 (Online)

    Upcoming Dates
    Application Date

    10 Apr'26 - 10 Apr'26 (Online)

    Certifications By Top Providers
    Management of Commercial Banking
    Via Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
    Direct Tax Laws and Practice
    Via Tezpur University, Tezpur
    Introduction to Accounting-Part 1 Basics of Financial Statements
    Via Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
    Fundamental of Insurance
    Via Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai
    Adaptive Markets Financial Market Dynamics and Human Behavior
    Via Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
    Udemy
     192 courses
    Edx
     174 courses
    Vskills
     52 courses
    Swayam
     49 courses
    Coursera
     47 courses
    Futurelearn
     40 courses
    Explore Top Universities Across Globe

    Questions related to CA Final Exam

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to CA Final Exam ?

    Hello Aspirant,

    See application process is already live for CA Final 2022 examination for November 2022 session so if you had applied for it then it is alright and the last date to apply for it is July 1st 2022.

    Now coming to the question of choice of elective paper

    Hello,

    No you cannot apply after the final date of registration. Unless the officials extend the last date you will not be eligible for applying after the final date of registration. As of now there are no information from the officials regarding the extension of the final date. The Institute

    Hi there,

    First of all make plan that what are you going to study,for how many hours you are going to study a topic and on what you will focus on. Plan all these things so that you don't get distract while studying. Then maintain a timetable and follow it

    Hi Aspirant,

    Hope you are doing great as per the question asked by you as you have made mistake while filling up the form you should definitely mail to the required authorities regarding the mistakes you have sometimes correction window is given to the students to correct the mistakes if

    Hey aspirant,

    Sorry but this cannot be done as it is mandatory and one must complete at least 2 years of training before sitting for the finals