December 2025 emerged as another record-breaking month for India’s digital payments ecosystem, with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions scaling fresh highs in both volume and value, capping a landmark year for digital payments adoption.
UPI transaction volumes surged to 21.6 billion transactions in December, the highest level ever recorded, surpassing 20.47 billion transactions in November. Transaction value rose to ₹28 lakh crore, up from ₹26.3 lakh crore in the previous month and above the earlier peak of ₹27.3 lakh crore recorded in October.
On a daily basis, Indians conducted nearly 698 million UPI transactions, while the average transaction size settled at around ₹1,293. The steady decline in average ticket size highlights UPI’s growing role in small, everyday payments, rather than only large-value transfers.
Growth steady despite high base
Despite operating on a significantly higher base, UPI continued to post strong growth. Transaction volumes grew 29.3% year-on-year, while transaction value increased 20.3%, indicating that growth is being driven by wider adoption and behavioural shifts rather than higher transaction sizes.
December marked the second instance in 2025 where volume growth slipped below 30%, pointing towards a gradual normalisation after years of rapid expansion, albeit at elevated absolute levels.
A blockbuster year for UPI
UPI’s performance over the full year remained robust. Annual transaction volumes climbed from 172.2 billion in 2024 to 228.3 billion in 2025, while transaction value rose from ₹246.8 lakh crore to ₹299.7 lakh crore, taking total digital payment value close to the ₹300 lakh crore milestone.
The average transaction size has steadily declined—from over ₹1,600 in early 2023 to about ₹1,300 by December 2025—underscoring UPI’s evolution into the backbone of retail payments. The platform is now deeply embedded across grocery purchases, fuel payments, dining, local transport, bill payments, and a wide range of low-value merchant transactions.
Earlier analysis showed that grocery payments have driven much of this expansion, with transaction volumes rising sharply over the past two years, while traditionally cash-heavy segments such as cigarette shops have also seen rapid migration to UPI.
Quick Read
December volume: 21.6 billion transactions (record high)
December value: ₹28 lakh crore
Daily transactions: ~698 million
Average ticket size: ~₹1,293
2025 total value: ₹299.7 lakh crore
Disclaimer : This article is for informational purposes only and is based on publicly available payments data. Transaction figures are subject to revisions by the relevant authorities.
