Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 23 : The pace of investors joining the stock markets has slowed recently due to tariff-related shocks and global headwinds, even as the overall investor base continued to expand, as highlighted by a report by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
According to the report, around 17.7 lakh investors joined the stock markets in January 2026, taking the total registered investor base on NSE to 12.7 crore as of January 2026. The exchange had earlier crossed the 12-crore milestone in September 2025, reflecting continued growth in investor participation.
Over the longer term, the investor base has seen significant expansion. Between financial year 2020 and financial year 2026, till January, the number of registered investors has grown more than four times, recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.3 per cent.
However, the report pointed out that the latest addition of 1 crore investors took about eight months, compared to five to six months required for each of the previous additions.
This slowdown is largely attributed to tariff-related shocks and other global headwinds witnessed over the past year.
It stated "The latest 1 crore addition came in about 8 months versus 5-6 months for each previous additions largely due to tariff-related shocks and other global headwinds in the past year".
The addition of 17.7 lakh investors in January represents a robust month-on-month expansion of 13 per cent. This is also the third-highest sequential increase in investor registrations in the financial year 2025-26 after July and December.
The report further noted that the total number of unique client codes or investor accounts registered with the exchange also crossed the 25-crore mark (250 million) on February 12, 2026.
However, NSE clarified that the number of trading accounts is higher than the number of unique investors, as individuals may maintain accounts with multiple brokers.
Despite this moderation, NSE highlighted that the structural deepening of the investor base remains strong. This growth has been supported by improved access to capital markets and various financial literacy initiatives aimed at increasing investor awareness and participation.
On the regional front, North India continues to lead in terms of investor base, with 4.6 crore registered investors. Western India follows with 3.7 crore investors, while Southern India accounts for 2.7 crore investors. Eastern India has over 1.5 crore registered investors, reflecting broad-based participation across regions.