Finance & Commerce
How to become a Economist
Also known as Policy Economist, Research Economist. Everything below comes from the same database our assessment scores against.
The route in
1. Undergraduate
3 years- Qualifications:
- B.A. Economics Honours, B.Sc. Economics
- Entrance exams:
- CUET, University merit
- Typical cost:
- ₹50,000 to ₹9 lakh
2. Postgraduate
2 years- Qualifications:
- M.A. Economics, M.Sc. Economics
- Entrance exams:
- DSE entrance, ISI entrance, CUET-PG
- Typical cost:
- ₹60,000 to ₹8 lakh
Subjects you must have taken
Mathematics. Without these the direct route is closed, though a bridging or open-school route often reopens it.
What does a Economist earn in India?
Entry level
₹4 lakh – ₹10 lakh
per year
Mid career
₹12 lakh – ₹40 lakh
per year
Indicative. These bands are an editorial estimate assembled from public reporting, and have not yet been reconciled against a named dataset. Treat them as a shape, not a promise — the same title pays very differently across a service company, a product company and a start-up.
Outlook
Hiring demand
Growing — hiring faster than average.
Exposure to automation
Medium. Parts of this role are already being automated, and the work is shifting toward the pieces that are not. Expect the job to change rather than disappear.
What does a Economist do?
What this actually looks like
A day as a Economist
Written about this role. The references behind it cover finance & commerce as a field rather than economist specifically.
What you would actually be doing
- Tracking indicators and working out what has actually changed underneath them
- Building and running models to test what is driving an outcome
- Forecasting, and revising the forecast when the data moves against it
- Writing notes and reports for people who will act on them commercially or politically
- Presenting a view, and defending it when the next data release complicates it
Who you work with
- Policy teams, in government and at the central bank
- Traders, strategists and business leaders, in the private sector
- Statisticians and data teams supplying the series
- Journalists and academics, depending on the role
What you work with
- Econometric software — Stata, R, EViews or Python
- National accounts, survey microdata and high-frequency indicators
- Modelling and forecasting frameworks
- A writing habit, because the note is the output
Where and when: The RBI and government economic services, research institutes, banks, rating agencies, consultancies and international organisations. Desk-based and data-heavy, with the calendar set by data releases, policy meetings and budget cycles.
Working conditions
- Typical hours
- 9 hours
- Remote possible
- Yes, at least partly
- Travel
- medium travel
- Physical demand
- low physical demand
Reality check
Before you choose economist
A report that only lists what is appealing about a career is an advertisement. This is the other half. Written about this role. The references behind it cover finance & commerce as a field rather than economist specifically.
What people like about it
- You work on questions that affect very large numbers of people
- The analytical toolkit is powerful and transfers into finance and data work
- Indian data has improved and there are genuinely open questions to work on
- Published work builds a reputation that travels
What is genuinely hard
- Forecasts are wrong often and publicly
- Policy conclusions are contested for reasons that are not analytical
- Academic and institutional posts are few and the PhD route is long
- Private sector roles can be more commentary than analysis
- Who tends to enjoy this work
- Are strong quantitatively, interested in how systems of incentives behave, and able to hold a view publicly while updating it honestly.
- What the education journey is really like
- An M.A. or M.Sc. in economics — the Delhi School of Economics, ISI, IGIDR and JNU are the recognised departments — usually after a B.A. in economics. The RBI Grade B and Indian Economic Service examinations are the main institutional routes. A PhD is required for research and academic positions; banks and consultancies hire at master's level.
Other legitimate ways in
The first route does not always work, and it is not always the best one. These are real alternatives, not consolation prizes.
Institutional and policy economics
- B.A. then M.A. or M.Sc. in economics
- RBI Grade B or Indian Economic Service examination
- Policy and research roles, then senior institutional positions
The most substantively economic route, entered through demanding examinations.
Private sector and research
- Master's in economics with strong econometrics and computing
- Research role at a bank, rating agency, consultancy or institute
- Senior economist, or a PhD for academic and research leadership
Better paid and faster, with the risk of drifting from analysis into commentary.
Who may not enjoy being a Economist?
Nothing here is a judgement about you — it is what the job is like, listed so you can decide whether it is what you want.
- The hours look like this: 9 hours.
- The route is long: about 5 years of study before you are earning from it.
The four hardest things about the work itself are listed above, under what is genuinely hard. If those and the points here describe things you would rather not sign up for, that is a real answer and worth having before a stream or a degree is chosen around it.
What skills does a Economist need?
What the job actually asks for, split four ways. The assessment tells you which of these your own scores already speak to.
Technical skills
- Econometric modelling and inference
- National accounts and data interpretation
- Forecasting and scenario analysis
- Policy and research writing
People skills
- Defending a view and revising it when data moves
- Explaining an economic argument to a non-specialist
- Holding an analytical position under political pressure
Digital and AI skills
- Stata, R, EViews or Python
- Large survey and panel datasets
- Visualisation and reporting tools
Industry knowledge
- How the RBI Grade B and Indian Economic Service examinations work
- Which institutions employ economists and in what capacity
- Where economics training leads in finance, data and consulting
If Economist appeals, also look at
Chosen by how far the interest pattern and the weighted activities of each one overlap with this. The reason is printed so you can disagree with it.
Finance & Commerce
People move between these two often. Experience in one counts toward the other. Both use quantitative.
Finance & Commerce
People move between these two often. Experience in one counts toward the other. Both use quantitative.
Law & Public Service
People move between these two often. Experience in one counts toward the other. Both use quantitative.
Computing & Data
Uses the same quantitative and natural & social science skills. You get in through computing & data instead.
Business & Management
Uses the same quantitative and inquiry & research skills. You get in through business & management instead.
Streams this is reachable from
Exams worth knowing about
Where an exam has its own page, it lists every other career it opens — useful if this one turns out not to fit.
Who tends to be happy here
People who rate these highly tend to stay in this work. If none of them sound like you, that is worth taking seriously.
- Achievement
- Recognition
- Independence
Are you sure Economist is the career you want?
Everything above describes the job. None of it tells you whether it fits you. So it is worth asking plainly, before a stream or a degree gets chosen around it.
- Not sure? Then this is exactly the question the assessment exists to answer. It compares you against Economist and 196 other careers, and shows the arithmetic behind every score, so you can see why rather than being handed a verdict.
- Quite sure? Then double-check anyway. Being certain is not the same as having checked, and the cost of finding out late is counted in years rather than in the 45 minutes this takes. If it confirms what you already think, you carry on with a reason instead of a hope — plus the education route, the entrance exams and a ninety-day plan.
And if it does not line up, nothing closes. Economist stays on your list with the gap named and a route attached, next to the careers your profile already reaches — so the answer is something to act on either way.
Other Finance & Commerce careers
Last verified 2026-08-01. This is a career-guidance instrument. It is not a clinical or diagnostic tool. It does not measure intelligence, IQ, or a person’s worth. Its results are one input among several, and are intended to be interpreted with a trained counsellor.