Building Collapses in India: Residential Cases Far Outnumber Commercial
Residential building collapses in India ranged from 922 to 1,176 annually between 2020 and 2024, while commercial collapses stayed between 51 and 77.
Residential buildings account for the overwhelming majority of structural collapses in India, according to annual figures spanning 2020 to 2024. The data reveals a persistent gap between residential and commercial incidents, with the former consistently numbering in the hundreds to over a thousand each year.
In 2020, 1,051 residential buildings collapsed. The count climbed to 1,176 in 2022, the highest in the five-year period, before falling to 922 in 2024. Commercial building collapses were far fewer throughout, fluctuating between 51 and 77 cases annually.
The figures underscore that structural failures are concentrated in residential stock, even as the total number of collapses has shown a downward trend in the most recent year. The 2022 peak and the subsequent decline in 2024 suggest some variation in the incidence of such events, though the data alone does not explain the causes.
The numbers point to a continuing safety challenge in India's built environment, particularly in residential structures, where collapses can result in significant loss of life and property.