The number of demat accounts in India is one of the most closely tracked metrics in the country’s financial sector — a proxy for retail investor participation, a measure of market democratisation, and a barometer of the economy’s transition from physical savings to financial assets. The numbers have grown so dramatically over the past five years that they have ceased to surprise even market veterans who remember when reaching 5 crore accounts felt like a distant milestone. India crossed 21 crore demat accounts by late 2025 — a figure that would have been considered implausible just a decade ago.
The Current Count
As of December 2025, India’s total demat account tally stood at approximately 21.6 crore — 216 million accounts across the country’s two depositories, CDSL (Central Depository Services Limited) and NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited). CDSL accounts for the vast majority with approximately 16.77 crore accounts, while NSDL holds the remaining 4.23 crore.
Within this total, active demat accounts — those that have executed at least one transaction in recent periods — stood at approximately 4.36 crore as of January 31, 2026. This means roughly 20% of all registered accounts are operationally active. The remaining 80% comprise dormant accounts, zero-balance accounts, and accounts that were opened during the post-2020 retail investing surge and subsequently abandoned without a single trade.
CDSL vs NSDL: Who Holds What
CDSL’s dominance in retail account numbers reflects a structural advantage: most discount brokers in India — Zerodha, Angel One, Groww, Upstox, and others that drove the account-opening boom — are registered as CDSL Depository Participants. NSDL retains its historical strength in institutional accounts and high-net-worth investor portfolios, where the custody value per account is significantly higher despite the smaller total account count.
As of October 2025, when the 21 crore milestone was crossed, CDSL held 16.8 crore accounts and NSDL held 4.2 crore — a ratio of roughly 80:20 that has been consistent for several years.
Who Is Opening These Accounts
The demographic profile of new account holders has shifted significantly since 2020. Investors under 30 from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities account for a disproportionate share of the account additions in recent years. Mobile-first platforms optimised for low-bandwidth smartphones, sub-10-minute account opening processes, and the influence of financial content creators on YouTube, Instagram, and Telegram have collectively brought a generation of first-time investors into the demat ecosystem. Many of these accounts were opened primarily to access IPOs, purchase mutual fund units in demat form, or invest in ETFs via SIP — patterns that explain both the rapid account accumulation and the high dormancy rate among younger account holders.
What 21 Crore Means in Context
India’s population is approximately 1.43 billion. With 21.6 crore total demat accounts, approximately 8% of Indians hold a demat account of any kind. Even accounting for multiple accounts held by a single investor (which SEBI estimates reduces unique investors to approximately 12 crore from the 21.6 crore total account count), equity market participation remains dramatically lower than in comparable economies — the US at 55%+, South Korea at 30%+, and even China at approximately 15%. The penetration headroom is enormous, which is why analysts consistently project continued demat account growth through the next decade.
Overview: Demat Account Count — Key Data Points (2026)
| Parameter | Data |
| Total Demat Accounts (Dec 2025) | 21.6 crore (216 million) |
| Active Demat Accounts (Jan 2026) | 4.36 crore (43.6 million) |
| CDSL Share | ~16.77 crore (77.6% of total) |
| NSDL Share | ~4.23 crore (19.6% of total) |
| New Accounts Added in 2025 | ~3.06 crore (30.6 million) |
| Monthly Average New Accounts (2025) | ~25.5 lakh (2.5 million) |
| % of Indians with Demat Account | ~8% |
| Active-to-Total Ratio | ~20% active |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. How many demat accounts are there in India as of 2026?
A: Approximately 21.6 crore (216 million) as of December 2025. CDSL holds 16.77 crore and NSDL holds 4.23 crore.
Q2. How many of these demat accounts are actually active?
A: Approximately 4.36 crore (43.6 million) as of January 2026 — about 20% of the total registered account count.
Q3. Why are most demat accounts inactive?
A: Most dormant accounts were opened during the 2020–2022 retail investing surge, often to participate in IPOs or by first-time investors who subsequently disengaged from the market.
Q4. Do all 21.6 crore accounts belong to different people?
A: No — SEBI estimates approximately 12 crore unique investors across the 21.6 crore accounts, since many active investors hold accounts with multiple brokers.
Q5. How many new demat accounts were opened in 2025?
A: Approximately 3.06 crore (30.6 million) — averaging 2.5 million new accounts per month throughout the year.
