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Growth, Sectors, Budget and Trade PYQs (previous year questions) for UPSC Prelims: Growth, Sectors, Budget and Trade (Economy) had 67 questions across the 11 official UPSC Prelims papers we tagged (2016–2026), and appeared in 11 of them. Asked in 11 of 11 years. The concepts asked in the most papers: Intellectual Property, Fiscal Deficit, Taxation.
Year-wise question count
Asked in 11 of 11 years.
Most-asked concepts
Sorted by the number of papers a concept appeared in.
| Concept | Questions | Papers | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intellectual Property | 3 | 3 | 2019, 2018, 2017 |
| Fiscal Deficit | 3 | 2 | 2025, 2016 |
| Taxation | 3 | 2 | 2018, 2017 |
| Capital Formation | 2 | 2 | 2024, 2018 |
| Critical Minerals | 2 | 2 | 2026, 2025 |
| Economic Concepts | 2 | 2 | 2019, 2018 |
| Finance Commission | 2 | 2 | 2025, 2023 |
| Fiscal Policy | 2 | 2 | 2026, 2018 |
| Foreign Investment | 2 | 2 | 2021, 2020 |
| E-commerce | 2 | 1 | 2026 |
| External Trade | 2 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ports and Shipping | 2 | 1 | 2026 |
| Agricultural Trade | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Biofuels | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Black Money | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Capital Expenditure | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Coal Sector | 1 | 1 | 2019 |
| Corporate Social Responsibility | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Demand and Supply | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Demography | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| E-commerce FDI Rules | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Economic Development | 1 | 1 | 2018 |
| Economic Reforms | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Employment and Labour | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Energy Policy | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Energy Regulation | 1 | 1 | 2019 |
| Energy Sector | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Energy Storage | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Exports | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fiscal Indicators | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Five-Year Plans | 1 | 1 | 2019 |
| Gold Trade | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Government Budget | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Human Capital | 1 | 1 | 2018 |
| Indirect Transfers | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Industrial Policy | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Infrastructure Finance | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Intangible Assets | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mining | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Mining Regulation | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| MSMEs | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Petroleum Sector | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Poverty | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Poverty Estimation | 1 | 1 | 2019 |
| Real Sector | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Renewable Energy | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sectors of Economy | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Solar Energy | 1 | 1 | 2018 |
| Solar Energy Policy | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Thermal Power | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Union Budget | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| WTO Agreements | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
How to practise Growth, Sectors, Budget and Trade PYQs
- Start with the concepts at the top of the table. They have come back the most.
- Solve one year’s Growth, Sectors, Budget and Trade questions from the official PDF against the clock, then check the answer listed below.
- Log every miss as a concept gap, a calculation slip or a misread. Each needs a different fix.
- Once a concept is clean in two papers, move to the next. Then sit a full paper from the year pages.
Questions by year
Each line gives the question number, type, concept, our one-line summary and the official answer, with a link to the official PDF.
UPSC Prelims2026
- Q.24 · MCQ · Ports and Shipping: How Vizhinjam port shifts India's maritime logistics policy PDF
- Q.35 · MCQ · Ports and Shipping: Relationship among statements on the Sagarmala Programme PDF
- Q.87 · MCQ · E-commerce: Name of a revenue model where a third party ships goods PDF
- Q.88 · MCQ · E-commerce: Key objective of the ONDC initiative PDF
- Q.94 · MCQ · Fiscal Policy: Meaning of the crowding out effect PDF
- Q.95 · MCQ · Critical Minerals: Rare earth uses, mining shares and the critical mineral mission PDF
- Q.100 · MCQ · Poverty: Method and indicators of the Multidimensional Poverty Index PDF
UPSC Prelims2025
- Q.6 · MCQ · Critical Minerals: India and the Minerals Security Partnership, critical minerals, MMDR amendment PDF
- Q.10 · MCQ · Government Budget: Nature of capital receipts, borrowings and interest receipts PDF
- Q.60 · MCQ · Petroleum Sector: Activities regulated by the PNGRB PDF
- Q.61 · MCQ · Fiscal Deficit: Compute revenue, fiscal and primary deficits from data PDF
- Q.63 · MCQ · Biofuels: Ethanol output and feedstock in Brazil versus USA PDF
- Q.65 · MCQ · Fiscal Deficit: Compute gross primary deficit from given figures PDF
- Q.66 · MCQ · Finance Commission: Recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission PDF
- Q.89 · MCQ · Mining Regulation: State and Central powers over minor minerals PDF
UPSC Prelims2024
- Q.27 · MCQ · Renewable Energy: Which listed items are distributed energy resources PDF
- Q.38 · MCQ · Energy Storage: Context of the term 'pumped-storage hydropower' PDF
- Q.41 · MCQ · Demography: Definition of total fertility rate PDF
- Q.45 · MCQ · Sectors of Economy: Matching economic activities with sectors PDF
- Q.47 · MCQ · Capital Formation: Matching items with fixed or working capital PDF
- Q.50 · MCQ · Corporate Social Responsibility: CSR rules on employee benefit and minimum spending PDF
- Q.92 · MCQ · Agricultural Trade: Apple imports from the US and rules on GM food imports PDF
UPSC Prelims2023
- Q.11 · MCQ · Energy Sector: Why India relies on coal despite uranium deposits (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.28 · MCQ · Intangible Assets: Which listed investments are intangible (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.29 · MCQ · Finance Commission: Criteria used by the 15th Finance Commission for tax devolution (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.66 · MCQ · Thermal Power: Water source, location and ownership of coal power plants (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.71 · MCQ · MSMEs: MSME investment limits and priority sector lending (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.86 · MCQ · Gold Trade: Switzerland as a gold exporter and its gold reserves (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.88 · MCQ · Exports: India's share of global goods exports and PLI scheme uptake (official answer: D) PDF
UPSC Prelims2022
- Q.6 · MCQ · E-commerce FDI Rules: Rules for foreign-owned e-commerce firms selling goods in India (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.7 · MCQ · Real Sector: Which economic activities count as the real sector (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.8 · MCQ · Indirect Transfers: Situation that best describes 'indirect transfers' in Indian taxation (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.9 · MCQ · Capital Expenditure: Whether technology purchase and debt or equity financing are capital spending (official answer: A) PDF
UPSC Prelims2021
- Q.4 · MCQ · Demand and Supply: Conditions under which market demand for a good rises (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.7 · MCQ · Foreign Investment: Instruments that can be included in FDI (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.9 · MCQ · Black Money: Main worry for government about black money creation (official answer: D) PDF
UPSC Prelims2020
- Q.51 · MCQ · Foreign Investment: Main characteristic of FDI in India (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.52 · MCQ · External Trade: Statements on India's merchandise and services trade (official answer: dropped in the final key) PDF
- Q.56 · MCQ · WTO Agreements: Statements on Trade-Related Investment Measures (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.58 · MCQ · Employment and Labour: Statements on productivity and rural employment after 1991 (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.64 · MCQ · External Trade: Statements on India's trade with neighbouring countries (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.84 · MCQ · Energy Policy: Raw materials allowed for biofuels under national policy (official answer: A) PDF
UPSC Prelims2019
- Q.24 · MCQ · Poverty Estimation: Why official poverty lines differ across States (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.48 · MCQ · Coal Sector: Statements on coal nationalisation, block allocation and imports (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.57 · MCQ · Intellectual Property: Statements on patents and the IP Appellate Board in India (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.70 · MCQ · Five-Year Plans: Statements on the Second, Fourth and Fifth Five-Year Plans (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.74 · MCQ · Energy Regulation: Statements on the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.80 · MCQ · Economic Concepts: What counts as a country's social capital (official answer: D) PDF
UPSC Prelims2018
- Q.8 · MCQ · Taxation: Statements on India's equalisation levy on online ads (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.9 · MCQ · Fiscal Policy: FRBM review targets, debt shares and State borrowing consent (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · Intellectual Property: Obligation behind India's Geographical Indications Act (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.47 · MCQ · Economic Concepts: Opportunity cost when government supplies goods free (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.48 · MCQ · Economic Development: When rising real GNP does not mean higher development (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.49 · MCQ · Human Capital: What human capital formation explains (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.50 · MCQ · Capital Formation: Why high savings may not raise output much (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.67 · MCQ · Solar Energy: Silicon wafer output and solar tariff setting in India (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.97 · MCQ · Taxation: Items exempted under GST (official answer: C) PDF
UPSC Prelims2017
- Q.27 · MCQ · Solar Energy Policy: Context of the Domestic Content Requirement term (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.34 · MCQ · Intellectual Property: Statements on the National IPR Policy (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.55 · MCQ · Infrastructure Finance: Statements on the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.77 · MCQ · Economic Reforms: Changes in India after the 1991 liberalisation (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.81 · MCQ · Taxation: Likely advantages of implementing GST (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.94 · MCQ · Fiscal Indicators: Trends in tax-to-GDP and fiscal deficit ratios (official answer: D) PDF
UPSC Prelims2016
- Q.3 · MCQ · Fiscal Deficit: Government actions that can reduce a persistent budget deficit (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.12 · MCQ · Union Budget: Items included in the capital budget of the Government of India (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.61 · MCQ · Industrial Policy: State proposed for India's first NIMZ (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.62 · MCQ · Mining: Purposes of District Mineral Foundations (official answer: B) PDF
Other Economy topics
FAQ
How many Growth, Sectors, Budget and Trade questions come in UPSC Prelims?
In the official papers we tagged: 7 in 2026, 8 in 2025, 7 in 2024, 7 in 2023, 4 in 2022, 3 in 2021, 6 in 2020, 6 in 2019, 9 in 2018, 6 in 2017 and 4 in 2016. That is 67 questions in all, about 32% of Economy.
Which Growth, Sectors, Budget and Trade topics repeat in UPSC Prelims?
Asked in the most papers: Intellectual Property, Fiscal Deficit, Taxation. The concept table lists every one with its count.
Are these official UPSC Prelims questions?
Yes. Every question is from an official UPSC Prelims paper hosted on our year pages. The one-line summaries are ours; open the PDF linked beside each question for the full text.