The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched on 25th August 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has completed 10 years.
In these 10 years, UPI has emerged as the backbone of India’s digital payments ecosystem and is playing an important role in financial inclusion.
When UPI was launched, Annual transaction volume was just 1.78 crore in FY 2016-17. This means only 1.78 crore UPI transactions were done that year. In FY 2025-26, transactions increased to over 24,162 crore.
This is almost 13,000‑fold surge in transaction volume. This shows how popular UPI became in last 10 years.
Transaction value also increased sharply from ₹0.07 lakh crore in FY 2016-17 to approximately ₹314 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, which is more than 4,000‑fold increase.
UPI has 84% share in India’s digital payment system as of FY2025-26 and is widely accepted in 11 countries across the world.
UPI Statistics
| Annual Transaction Volume (FY2016-17) | 1.78 Crore |
| Annual Transaction Volume (FY2025-26) | 24,162 Crore |
| CAGR | 188% |
| Annual Transaction Value (FY2016-17) | ₹0.07 Lakh Crore |
| Annual Transaction Value (FY2025-26) | ₹314 Lakh Crore |
| CAGR | 155% |
| YoY Volume Growth (2025-2026) | 30% |
| YoY Value Growth (2025-2026) | 21% |
| Daily Average Transactions (2026) | 66 Crore |
| Record Monthly Volume (July 2026) | 2,366 Crore |
| Record Monthly Value (July 2026) | ₹29.88 Lakh Crore |
| Banks Live on UPI (As on July 2026) | 741 Banks |
| Banks at Launch (April 2016) | 21 Banks |
| First Month Transactions (August 2016) | 90,000 |
| Share of UPI in India’s Digital Payments | 84% (FY2025-26) |
| Share of Global Real-Time Volume | 49% of World (2025) |
| Countries Accepting UPI | 11 Countries |
The number of banks live on UPI increased from 44 banks in FY 2016-17, the first year of operations, to 703 banks by FY 2025-26.
The Year 2026 marked a significant milestone in the growth trajectory of UPI. Monthly transaction volumes crossed 2,300 crore transactions for the first time in May 2026, reaching 2,320 crore transactions, signalling a new scale of adoption. July 2026 recorded 2,366 crore transactions, the highest monthly transaction volume in UPI’s decade‑long journey.
