India's Farm Workers Lost 54 Working Days to Heat Stress in 2024

Indian agricultural workers lost an average of 648 hours — equivalent to 54 full working days — to heat stress in 2024, the hottest year on record, according to an analysis by the UK-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. Total heat-related working hours lost across India's agricultural workforce reached 163.3 million in 2024, up 45.4 per cent from 2014.

India ranked third among 15 climate-vulnerable food-producing countries studied for heat-induced agricultural labour loss, after Ghana and Vietnam. The total loss across all 15 countries reached an estimated 216 billion hours in 2024, equivalent to around 590 hours per worker across an agricultural workforce of 366 million people. Agricultural employment in India has risen 8.6 per cent since 2022 and 22.6 per cent since 2014, meaning more workers than ever are spending more time than ever exposed to life-threatening heat conditions.

The ECIU analysis used wet-bulb globe temperature — a measure combining air temperature, humidity, radiant heat, and wind that better reflects human thermal stress than standard thermometer readings — to calculate work hours lost. The trend shows no sign of levelling off, with approximately 4.5 additional hours per worker being lost each year on average. A developing Super El Nino, assessed at 80 per cent probability by WMO, is projected to further intensify heat risks in 2026 and 2027, with WMO projecting 2027 could become the hottest year on record.

For daily-wage farm workers, every hour lost to extreme heat can mean lost income and greater risk to health, livelihoods, and household security. The 15 countries studied together supplied £8.9 billion, or 13 per cent of UK food imports, connecting agricultural heat stress in South Asia and Africa directly to food security and food price stability in importing nations. The report warns that rising heat stress could disrupt agricultural labour, affect food production, and deepen income insecurity for India's agricultural workforce — one of the world's largest.

Key figure — 648 hours — average working time lost per Indian farm worker to heat stress in 2024