India Held Fewer Weddings Last Season and Spent ₹60,000 Crore More
CAIT counted 46 lakh weddings against 48 lakh the year before, while business rose from ₹5.9 lakh crore ($61bn) to ₹6.5 lakh crore ($68bn).
Written by: ShaadiNews Desk
Industry & Data
Original Reporting:Confederation of All India Traders
Editorial Summary & Key Highlights
CAIT estimated 46 lakh Indian weddings between 1 November and 14 December 2025, generating ₹6.50 lakh crore ($68 billion). That is fewer weddings than the previous season but ₹60,000 crore more business, implying roughly 15% higher spending per wedding.
Key Insights
- •CAIT estimated 46 lakh weddings and ₹6.50 lakh crore ($68 billion) of business for the 2025 season.
- •That is fewer weddings than 2024 (48 lakh) but ₹60,000 crore ($6.3 billion) more spending.
- •Jewellery takes the largest share of wedding spend at 15%, ahead of apparel and catering at 10% each.
An Indian bride photographed at her wedding.
The Confederation of All India Traders estimated 46 lakh weddings across India between 1 November and 14 December 2025, generating ₹6.50 lakh crore ($68 billion) in business. The year before, it counted 48 lakh weddings generating ₹5.90 lakh crore ($61 billion).
Fewer weddings, more money. On CAIT's own figures that works out at ₹14.1 lakh ($14,700) of business per wedding in 2025, against ₹12.3 lakh ($12,800) in 2024. That is a rise of about 15% per wedding in a single season. The per-wedding arithmetic is ours, not CAIT's.
The longer series runs the same way. CAIT recorded 32 lakh weddings and ₹3.75 lakh crore ($39 billion) in 2022, then 38 lakh and ₹4.74 lakh crore ($49 billion) in 2023, before the volume peak of 48 lakh in 2024. Spending has risen every year regardless of whether the number of weddings did.
““Spending has risen every year regardless of whether the number of weddings did.””
Where it goes is itemised. Jewellery takes the largest single share at 15%, followed by apparel and sarees at 10% and catering at another 10%. Event management, groceries, electronics and dry fruits take 5% each. Photography and videography account for 2%.
Delhi alone accounted for 4.8 lakh weddings and ₹1.8 lakh crore ($19 billion), more than a quarter of the national total from a single city. CAIT's research arm ran the survey behind the estimate between 15 and 25 October 2025 across 75 cities, and Praveen Khandelwal, its secretary general and the MP for Chandni Chowk, framed the findings around domestic trade and self-reliance.
The estimate for the coming season is not due until October. But the gold market is doing the same thing from an entirely separate dataset: volumes down, spending sharply up. Two independent measures now point at weddings costing more without necessarily getting grander.
Curated Wedding Gallery
Quick Facts
- 2025 season
- 46 lakh weddings, ₹6.50 lakh crore ($68bn)
- 2024 season
- 48 lakh weddings, ₹5.90 lakh crore ($61bn)
- Delhi share
- 4.8 lakh weddings, ₹1.8 lakh crore ($19bn)
- Largest spend category
- Jewellery, 15%
Wedding counts and business estimates published by CAIT on 10 November 2025, from a survey of 75 cities conducted 15 to 25 October 2025. The per-wedding figures are ShaadiNews calculations from CAIT published totals and are labelled as such. A trade-body estimate is a projection, not a measurement. Dollar equivalents are converted at about ₹96 to the dollar, the rate in late August 2026, and will drift as the rate moves.
Reporting Sources:
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