Key Findings from India Health Quotient 2026

  • India Health Quotient at 65/100: Physical 68, Mental 65, Financial 62, Occupational 65 & Social 66
  • Health Insurance Ownership Advantage: Insured urban Indians score 68 out of 100 on the Health Quotient, making insurance ownership a promising predictor of wellbeing
  • Mental Health Goes Mainstream: For the first time, mental and physical health are tied at 50-50 in importance to overall wellbeing.
  • AI in Healthcare: 63% of Indians express positive feelings about the role of AI in healthcare over the next year.
  • Stress & Perception Gap: 82% of urban Indians report experiencing stress, yet only 1% rate their health as poor

India : ManipalCigna Health Insurance, one of India’s leading health insurers, today unveiled the inaugural edition of India Health Quotient (IHQ) 2026, an annual study offering the most comprehensive picture yet of how urban Indians perceive, prioritise, and manage their wellbeing. It is a proprietary multi-dimensional index that measures self-assessed health perceptions and behaviours across five inter-connected dimensions: Physical, Mental, Financial, Occupational, and Social.

India’s overall health score stands at 65 out of 100, signalling moderate wellbeing among urban Indians. Physical health leads the five dimensions at 68, followed by social health at 66, occupational health at 65, mental health at 65, while financial health trails at 62, the lowest score across all dimensions and a critical aspect requiring greater attention.

Commenting on the report launch, Joydeep Saha, MD & CEO, ManipalCigna Health Insurance, said, “Health conversation in India is changing, people are no longer asking just how do I get treated, but how do I stay well. As a company, our purpose is to improve the health, wellbeing and peace of mind of those we serve, and the India Health Quotient is our commitment to that purpose. Urban India scores 65 out of 100 across five dimensions of health: physical, mental, financial, occupational and social. Financial dimension scores the lowest at 62. For the first time in a study of this scale, mental and physical health are tied (50-50) in importance to overall wellbeing. It reflects how closely connected these dimensions are, and why health can no longer be looked at in isolation”

Sapna Desai, Chief Marketing Officer, ManipalCigna Health Insurance, said, “The India Health Quotient asks a simple but important question: how does India actually feel? What we found is that health is no longer experienced in a single dimension. People are managing their bodies, their minds, their finances, their work and their relationships all at once. When one of these slips, the others quietly absorb the cost. 82% of urban Indians say they feel stressed, and 14% describe that stress as unmanageable. These numbers reflect the trade-offs urban India is quietly making every day. The choices people make to keep one part of their health intact are often costing another, and that is precisely what this study captures.”