Mumbai

New investor registrations in India’s stock markets fell 2.5 per cent month-on-month to 10.5 lakh in May 2026, with Southern and Western India witnessing the sharpest slowdown, according to a National Stock Exchange (NSE) report.

Despite the decline, the pace of reduction in investor additions was the slowest in the past 12 months, the report noted. On a year-on-year basis, registrations were down 8.2 per cent compared to May 2025.

Regionally, Southern India recorded the steepest fall in investor additions at 16.6 per cent year-on-year, followed by an 8.7 per cent decline in Western India.

Even so, North India continued to dominate new investor registrations, contributing 42.2 per cent of total additions in May 2026. It was followed by Southern India at 22.3 per cent, Western India at 21.2 per cent, and Eastern India at 14 per cent.

The report also highlighted a gradual shift in investor distribution across regions over the past few years. Compared to May 2022, North India’s share of new investors has risen by about five percentage points, driven largely by strong growth in Uttar Pradesh, which alone contributed a 4.8 percentage point increase in share.

In contrast, Western India’s share declined by around 10 percentage points during the same period, with Maharashtra accounting for a significant portion of the drop, losing 6.3 percentage points in its share of new registrations.

Among states, Uttar Pradesh emerged as the leading contributor in May 2026, accounting for 16.1 per cent of total new investors and adding nearly 1.7 lakh individuals.

Maharashtra followed with an 11 per cent share and about 1.1 lakh new registrations. West Bengal contributed 6.7 per cent, Bihar 6.6 per cent, and Tamil Nadu 6 per cent.

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Together, the top five states accounted for 46.4 per cent of all new investor additions during the month.