Economist Job: Skills Required, Salary, Scope of Zoologist in India 2022

An economist is the practitioner of the academic discipline of economics. Economist jobs include study of a society whether small or large with respect to its resources, and market processes and they then apply already established concepts of economics or develop new economic policies in order to regulate the economic interactions happening within a society or among different societies.

An economics degree will not only make you eligible for several job profiles but will also boost your employability in the job market due to the critical and numerative skills attached to it. Most candidates after their BA Economics prefer to go for higher studies i.e. MA Economics. However around 47% of the Economists hold a Bachelor's degree while 53% of them hold a Master’s degree.

Economists earn between INR 3,00,000 to 4,00,000 LPA at the start of their career. The salary of an Economist depends on the type of Industry. The salary provided in the government agencies or research departments are comparatively low as compared to working in Banks. An Economist with a number of professional experience on his back may earn up to INR 25,00,000 per annum.

Check: How to become an Economist

Table of Contents

Who is an Economist?
Economist Qualifications
Economist Jobs
Skills Required to Become an Economist
Scope for Economists
Economists Jobs: FAQs

Who is an Economist?

An economist is someone who researches and collects data to study the behaviour of market flow or the reasoning behind the decisions people participating in the market economy face.
More often than not to have a career in economics a bachelor’s degree in the discipline is enough but a higher education in this field only improves your chances.
An economist can work in the field of consultation, economic research, collection and analysis of data, and forecasting market trends etc.

Economist Qualifications

In order to become an economist certain qualifications are more than necessary like an economics background is a must to even start with being an economist. So, the basic qualification of an economist has to be a graduation in economics or in related subjects like statistics, mathematics, finance, business etc. Some places may require a master’s degree or Ph.D. as the bottom line but one thing is for sure, economist jobs require you put in years of study and achievements.

Name of the Courses	Provider	Average Course Fees (INR)
Undergraduate Courses	St. Stephen’s College	1,04,610
Undergraduate Courses	Harvard University	36, 62,405
Postgraduate Courses	Shri Ram College of Commerce	15,000
Postgraduate Courses	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	39,42,472
PhD Courses	Indian School of Business	47,00,000
PhD Courses	Cornell University	46,94,631

Economist Jobs

Jobs for economics majors involve researching and analysing data and trends. Job opportunities for economics graduates are available at every platform due to the prevalent free market economy and globalisation. This recent COVID crisis has made economist jobs more prominent because there is a need for revival of economies.

Actuaries: Actuaries are people who use mathematical factors to predict the risk of future events and financial impact of these events on the economy as well as businesses. They are employed largely by insurance companies. The average actuary salary in India comes to be around 9 million INR per year.
Indian Economic services (IES): It is a public sector profession wherein the minimum qualification is master’s degree in economics and an exam for the same is conducted by Union Public Service commission of India. Needless to say, they are paid well and there is high job security.
Consulting: It’s a job that requires you to provide clients with advice in the area of your specialization and with growing industrial momentum in India, a lot of business owners will be seeking financial advice. The pay scale for a fresher in this field could be as good as 659,000 INR per year.
Risk analyst: Such a person assesses the risk factors that can possibly impact the assets, Credits and other things concerning an economic enterprise. Financial risks require regular monitoring thus making the job relevant at all times. The average PayScale of this job is 537k per year and the minimum qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in economics, finance, statistics or other relevant discipline.
Banking: Banks hire economists for a variety of roles like financial planner, consultant, investment banking and finance related issues along with research and analysis of economic data.
Agricultural Economist: Herein an economist is employed to observe both macro and micro factors affecting the agricultural economy and provide/ develop solutions for the same. The minimum qualification is bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and the pay comes to be around 224 INR per hour.
Industrial Economist: These people study the strategic interactions among different business entities, market trends and the competition in the economy to provide effective business strategies for the industrial sector. To become an industrial economist a postgraduate degree in economics or related subjects is required but mathematical skills are a staple for this profession and these people are paid very well..
Investment Analyst: They collect information and analyse data relating to stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities. A bachelor’s degree in economics, finance etc. is required to be an investment analyst and they earn an average salary of 1.2 Million INR per year.
Financial Economist/Financial Controller: They are a company’s lead accountant and their job is to ensure that documents correctly reflect the money going in and out of the establishment they work for. The national average for the salary of a financial controller in India is 2 Million INR and the minimum qualifications to be started as one are: a bachelor’s degree in economics, finance etc. and 10+ years of progressively responsible experience.

Scope of Economists

Here are some Career Opportunities as an Economist in India.

Job Profiles	Job Description
Teacher	After completing the degree, it is one of the best Career Opportunities in Economics. You can become a teacher as an Economics graduate by taking CTET or other state-level teaching exams
Banking Services	It is the most common and popular economics career path. The Reserve Bank of India hires economists in the banking sector through their own recruitment processes. You should be between the ages of 21 and 28
International Agencies	Experienced and well-known economists can find work in a well-known international organisation such as the World Bank or the International Labor Organization
Consultant	Economics graduates can work as economic consultants on their own. Different scientific research and consulting firms in the private sector can provide excellent job opportunities

Or, aspiring candidates can also choose to pursue higher studies after completing degrees in Economics. Mentioned below are few of them for your reference,

Degree Courses	Course Description
MA in Economics	MA Economics or Master of Arts in Economics is a 2 years long post graduation course that is divided into 4 semesters. With a blend of all the aspects of economics in a society, MA Economics broadly and commonly focuses on topics like macroeconomics, microeconomics, public economics, econometry, international and financial economics
MSc Economics	Master of Science or MSc Economics is a 2-year postgraduate program, focusing on the field of Economics. It is usually divided into 4 semesters. The minimum eligibility criteria for the course is a bachelor’s degree in any stream, but preferably with honours in Economics, and a minimum aggregate score of 60%
Phd in Economics	Ph.D. in Economics is a three to five-year doctorate course. Eligibility for the course is a postgraduate course in Economics, candidates should also have Bachelor’s degree in Economics/Bachelor in Technology in Economics from recognized University

Economist Jobs: FAQs

Ques. What jobs do economists get?

Ans. An economist will be employed for the jobs like Financial Analyst, Accountant, Economic Researcher, Financial Consultant, Investment Analyst, Economist and many more. All of these have a flourishing scope.

Ques. What do you need to be an economist?

Ans. The educational commitment to be an economist is extensive, you can get a job after finishing your undergraduate course of economics but you need to keep on expanding your educational qualifications in order to advance in the field as most good career options in economics do require a master’s degree or a doctorate as the basics.

Ques. What are the requirements of being an economist?

Ans. For being an Economist, the requirements are: at least degree in economics (depending upon the workplace it could graduate or post graduate), combination of graduation and some work experience in business, research etc., some working knowledge of statistical analysis softwares and soft skills that modern economists employ to facilitate their work is always helpful.

Ques. What is the highest pay of an economist?

Ans. The pay differs according to your job description, experience and the relevance of that job in the current market but the highest reported pay of an economist is around 5 million INR in India, even Nobel prize winning economist Dr. Angus Deaton earns around this much.

Ques. What does an economist do?

Ans. An economist generally collects and analyses data, researches trend, evaluates economic issues and then applies the concepts of economics to their results or puts together a new concept in order to forecast market trends, regulate the economy, formulate a policy or provide solutions to economic problems.

Ques. What are different types of economists?

Ans. There are three type of economists based on where are they working and what is the end goal of their work:

Public Economists: they work with the government and more often than not are involved in formulation of economic policies.
Private economists: they work with individually owned establishments and their job is economic problem solving in order to maximize profits.
Academic economists: they work purely for academic development of economics as discipline, they study concepts and tools from economics and sometimes develop new ones.

Ques. What are the jobs after BA economics?

Ans. After finishing your BA in economics (whether honours or general) a person can be hired as an economic journalist, sales executive, economic consultant, actuary and Indian economic services etc.

Ques. Which university has the best Econ major?

Ans. In the world, Massachusetts Institute of technology or any ivy league school is highly scored for economics and econometrics and in India institutions like Indian School of Business, Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and then some.

Ques. Which degree is best for economics?

Ans. If the challenging social phenomenon appeals to you more then BA economics is best suited for you but if you have discovered economics through numeracy and wish to pursue a doctorate in economics then you are best suited for a B.Sc. in economics.

Ques. Is it good to pursue doctorate programmes in economics?

Ans. A Ph.D. in economics is currently the most lucrative doctorate programme not only because it imparts highly relevant skills suited for present times but also because it could land you a high position job in policy making which is like the apex of an economics mountain.