Plain Facts: The data, charts and stories that explained India in 2025

Today, we revisit the biggest data stories featured in Mint’s Plain Facts section through the year. Our coverage spanned socio-economic trends, US tariffs, data quality, politics, cinema and climate, with our trademark charts telling important stories about the India of 2025. Each link in this piece leads to the corresponding story, which offers more charts and in-depth analysis.The second edition of the government’s time-use survey gave an insight into the daily lives and routines of India.

Mint close look at the data revealed striking insights into how Indian society functions, especially for married women. Using granular data, our team unpacked the unequal structure of work, leisure, and even sleep. Our reporting showed how unequal Indian marriages remain for married women.

They spend more than 25% of their day on unpaid domestic work, compared to just 6% for unmarried women. The burden rises for men, too, but from 1% to 3%.The story quantified what Indian society has experienced for ages. Through a first-of-its-kind analysis of sleep patterns from the same survey, we found that women, burdened by household responsibilities, sleep significantly less than men.

Women’s sleep deficit when compared to men expands to nearly 30 minutes in their 30s, when family duties peak. There is no gender gap in childhood and adolescence, and it starts appearing only later as men and women take on different gender roles.‘Tariff’, derived from the Arabic word ta’rīfa (to inform), is a serious contender for word of the year, especially for Indians. Tariffs were US President Donald Trump's preferred economic weapon to force trading partners into renegotiating terms.