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UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 PDF, Exam Pattern

UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 for English and General Studies is common to both exams. Check paper-wise UPSC IES Syllabus 2024 and UPSC ISS Syllabus 2024 for the upcoming exam here.
authorImageAnil Solonki4 Apr, 2024
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UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024

UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024: The syllabus for the Indian Economic Service (IES) and Indian Statistical Service (ISS) written exam has been defined by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 can be downloaded from the official website. The UPSC IES ISS exam syllabus is distributed among 6 subjects.

According to the UPSC IES ISS Exam Pattern 2024, both exams will be worth 1000 marks with 6 papers. Following this, an interview or Personality Test (PT) will be conducted worth 200 marks. This article provides the UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 in detail along with the latest exam pattern.

UPSC IES ISS Syllabus PDF Download

The UPSC IES ISS Syllabus can be found in the latest UPSC IES ISS Notification PDF 2024. This notification will be released on ‘upsc.gov.in’ in which the commission will mention the subjects, topics, subtopics, duration and marks assigned to each paper for both services. The link to the UPSC IES ISS Syllabus PDF will be active on 10 April 2024 on the official website.

UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 Common Papers

The UPSC IES and UPSC ISS exams are held simultaneously. The only difference is subjective papers that will be unique to each service. There 4 specialist papers and two common papers , named General English and General Studies worth 100 marks each. The UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 for common papers is as follows:
UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 - Common Papers
Subject/Paper Topics
General English
  1. Essay Writing
  2. English Language and Vocabulary
  3. Passages
  4. Summary or Precis Writing
General Studies
  1. General Knowledge
  2. Indian Polity
  3. Constitution of India
  4. History of India
  5. Geography
  6. Current Events or Affairs

UPSC Indian Economic Service Syllabus 2024

The UPSC Indian Economic Service Syllabus 2024 is mainly divided into four subjects viz. General English, General Studies, General Economics (I, II, and III) and Indian Economics. Of these General Economics I, II, and III and Indian Economics papers are worth 200 marks each. The paper-wise UPSC IES ISS syllabus for the Indian Economic Service exam is as follows:

UPSC IES General Economics I Syllabus

In the UPSC IES ISS syllabus PDF the General Economics subject is specific to the IES exam. The General Economics I paper of the Indian Economic Service exam is divided into Part A and Part B. The syllabus is given below for this paper:
UPSC IES Syllabus - General Economics I
PART A
1. Theory of Consumer’s Demand
  • Cardinal utility Analysis: Marginal utility and demand, Consumer’s surplus, Indifference curve Analysis, utility function, Price, income and substitution effects, Slutsky theorem and derivation of demand curve, Revealed preference theory.
  • Duality and indirect utility function and expenditure function, Choice under risk and uncertainty. Simple games of complete information, Concept of Nash equilibrium.
2. Theory of Production
  • Factors of production and production function.
  • Forms of Production Functions: Cobb Douglas, CES and Fixed coefficient type, Translog production function.
  • Laws of return, Returns to scale, and Returns to factors of production.
  • Duality and cost function, Measures of productive efficiency of firms, technical and allocative efficiency.
  • Partial Equilibrium versus General Equilibrium approach .
  • Equilibrium of the firm and industry
3. Theory of Value
  • Pricing under different market structures , public sector pricing, marginal cost pricing, peak load pricing, cross-subsidy free pricing, and average cost pricing.
  • Marshallian and Walrasian stability analysis. Pricing with incomplete information and moral hazard problems.
4. Theory of Distribution
  • Neo classical distribution theories ; Marginal productivity theory of the determination of factor prices, Factor shares, and adding up problems.
  • Euler’s theorem , Pricing of factors under imperfect competition, monopoly, and bilateral monopoly.
  • Macrodistribution theories of Ricardo, Marx, Kaldor, Kalecki.
5. Welfare Economics
  • Inter-personal comparison and aggression problem, Public goods and externalities.
  • Divergence between social and private welfare , and compensation principle.
  • Pareto optimality.
  • Social choice and other recent schools, including Coase and Sen.
PART B: Quantitative Methods in Economics
1. Mathematical Methods in Economics
  • Differentiation and Integration and their application in economics.
  • Optimization techniques , Sets, Matrices, and their application in economics.
  • Linear algebra and Linear programming in economics and Input-output model of Leontief
2. Statistical and Econometric Methods
  • Measures of central tendency and dispersions, Correlation, and Regression. Time series. Index numbers.
  • Sampling of curves based on various linear and non-linear functions.
  • Least square methods and other multivariate analysis (only concepts and interpretation of results).
  • Analysis of Variance, Factor analysis, Principle component analysis, Discriminant analysis.
  • Income distribution: Pareto law of Distribution, lognormal distribution, measurement of income inequality.
  • Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis.
  • Problems and remedies of Hetroscedasticity, Autocorrelation, and Multicollinearity.

UPSC IES General Economics II Syllabus

The General Economics II consists of topics like  National Income, theories of economics, employment, growth and development, etc. Here is the detailed syllabus of the UPSC IES Paper 4 i.e. General Economics II:
UPSC IES Syllabus - General Economics II
Topics Subtopics
1. Economic Thought
  • Mercantilism Physiocrats
  • Classical, Marxist, Neo-classical, Keynesian, and Monetarist schools of thought.
2. Concept of National Income and Social Accounting
  • Measurement of National Income, Inter relationship between three measures of national income in the presence of
  • Government sector and International transactions.
  • Environmental considerations, Green national income.
3. Theory of Employment, Output, Inflation, Money and Finance
  • The Classical theory of Employment and Output and neo-classical approaches.
  • Equilibrium, analysis under classical and neo-classical approach.
  • Keynesian Theory of Employment and Output. Post Keynesian developments.
  • The inflationary gap; Demand pull versus cost push inflation, Philip’s curve and its policy implication.
  • The classical theory of Money, Quantity Theory of Money.
  • Friedman’s restatement of the quantity theory, the neutrality of money.
  • The supply and demand for loanable funds and equilibrium in financial markets, Keynes’ theory on demand for money.
  • IS-LM Model and AD-AS Model in Keynesian Theory.
4. Financial and Capital Market
  • Finance and economic development , financial markets, stock market, gilt market, banking and insurance.
  • Equity markets, Role of primary and secondary markets and efficiency, Derivatives markets; Future and options.
5. Economic Growth and Development
  • Concepts of Economic Growth and Development and their measurement: characteristics of less developed countries and obstacles to their development – growth, poverty, and income distribution.
  • Theories of growth:
    • Classical Approach: Adam Smith, Marx, and Schumpeter
    • Neo classical approach; Robinson, Solow, Kaldor, and Harrod Domar.
  • Theories of Economic Developmen t, Rostow, Rosenstein-Roden, Nurske, Hirschman, Leibenstien and Arthur Lewis, Amin and Frank (Dependency school) respective role of state and the market.
  • Utilitarian and Welfarist approach to social development and A.K. Sen’s critique. Sen’s capability approach to economic development.
  • The Human Development Index. Physical Quality of Life Index and Human Poverty Index.
  • Basics of Endogenous Growth Theory.
6. International Economics
  • Gains from International Trade , Terms of Trade, policy, international trade, and economic development- Theories of International Trade; Ricardo, Haberler, Heckscher- Ohlin and Stopler- Samuelso
  • Theory of Tariffs - Regional Trade Arrangements. Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, Global Financial Crisis of 2008, and Euro Zone Crisis- Causes and Impact.
7. Balance of Payments
  • Disequilibrium in the Balance of Payments
  • Mechanism of Adjustments, Foreign Trade Multiplier, Exchange Rates, Import and Exchange Controls, and Multiple Exchange Rates.
  • IS-LM Model and Mundell - Fleming Model of Balance of Payments.
8. Global Institutions
  • UN agencies dealing with economic aspects
  • The role of Multilateral Development Bodies (MDBs), such as the World Bank, IMF, WTO, and Multinational Corporations. G-20.

UPSC IES General Economics III Syllabus

The UPSC IES Syllabus for Paper 5, which is General Economics III, covers the areas of public finance, industrial economics, environmental economics, markets and planning, etc. is provided in the below table:
UPSC IES Syllabus - General Economics III
Topics Subtopics
1. Public Finance
  • Theories of taxation : Optimal taxes and tax reforms, incidence of taxation.
  • Theories of public expenditure: objectives and effects of public expenditure, public expenditure policy, social cost-benefit analysis, criteria of public investment decisions, social rate of discount, shadow prices of investment, unskilled labour, and foreign exchange.
  • Budgetary deficits . Theory of public debt management.
2. Environmental Economics
  • Environmentally sustainable development , Rio process 1992 to 2012, Green GDP, UN Methodology of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting.
  • Environmental Values: Users and Non-Users values, option value.
  • Valuation Methods: Stated and revealed preference methods.
  • Design of Environmental Policy Instruments: Pollution taxes and Pollution permits, collective action, and informal regulation by local communities. Theories of exhaustible and renewable resources.
  • International environmental agreement s, RIO Conventions. Climatic change problems. Kyoto Protocol, UNFCC, Bali Action Plan, Agreements up to 2017, tradable permits, and carbon taxes.
  • Carbon Markets and Market Mechanisms. Climate Change Finance and Green Climate Fund
3. Industrial Economics
  • Market structure , conduct, and performance of firms, product differentiation and market concentration, monopolistic price theory, and oligopolistic interdependence and pricing, entry-preventing pricing
  • Micro-level investment decisions and the behaviour of firms , research and development and innovation, market structure and profitability, public policy, and development of firms.
4. State, Market, and Planning
  • Planning in a developing economy.
  • Planning regulation and market.
  • Indicative planning.
  • Decentralized planning.

UPSC IES Indian Economics Syllabus

The syllabus of Paper 6 which completely deals with Indian Economics covers a wide range of related topics such as the history of planning, budgeting, agriculture, poverty, foreign trade, etc. Candidates must have a good knowledge of the below mentioned topics:
UPSC IES Syllabus - Indian Economics
Topics Subtopics
1. History of development and planning
  • Alternative development strategies —goal of self-reliance based on import substitution and protection, the post-1991 globalisation strategies based on stabilisation and structural adjustment packages
  • Fiscal reforms, financial sector reforms, and trade reforms.
2. Federal Finance
  • Constitutional provisions relating to fiscal and financial powers of the states
  • Finance Commissions and their formulae for sharing taxes
  • Financial aspect of Sarkaria Commission Report, Financial aspects of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.
3. Budgeting and Fiscal Policy
  • Tax, expenditure , budgetary deficits, pension and fiscal reforms, Public debt management and reforms
  • Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act
  • Black money and Parallel economy in India—definition, estimates, genesis, consequences, and remedies.
4. Poverty, Unemployment and Human Development
  • Estimates of inequality and poverty measures for India, appraisal of Government measures, and India’s human development record in a global perspective.
  • India’s population policy and development.
5. Agriculture and Rural Development Strategies
  • Technologies and institutions , land relations and land reforms, rural credit, modern farm inputs and marketing— price policy and subsidies; commercialisation and diversification.
  • Rural development programmes including poverty alleviation programmes, development of economic and social infrastructure and New Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
6. India’s experience with Urbanisation and Migration
  • Different types of migratory flows and their impact on the economies of their origin and destination
  • The process of growth of urban settlements; urban development strategies.
7. Industry: Strategy of industrial development
  • Industrial Policy Reform; Reservation Policy relating to small-scale industries. Competition policy, Sources of industrial finance.
  • Bank, share market, insurance companies , pension funds, non-banking sources and foreign direct investment, role of foreign capital for direct investment and portfolio investment
  • Public sector reform, privatisation and disinvestment.
8. Labour
  • Employment, unemployment and underemployment, industrial relations and labour welfare— strategies for employment generation
  • Urban labour market and informal sector employment, Report of National Commission on Labour
  • Social issues relating to labour e.g. Child Labour, Bonded Labour
  • International Labour Standard and its impact.
9. Foreign Trade
  • Salient features of India’s foreign trade, composition, direction and organisation of trade, recent changes in trade
  • Balance of payments, tariff policy, exchange rate, India and WTO requirements.
  • Bilateral Trade Agreements and their implications.
10. Money and Banking
  • Financial sector reforms, Organisation of India’s money market, changing roles of the Reserve Bank of India, commercial banks, development finance institutions, foreign banks and non-banking financial institutions,
  • Indian capital market and SEBI , Development in Global Financial Market and its relationship with Indian Financial Sector. Commodity Market in India-Spot and Futures Market, Role of FMC.
11. Inflation
  • Definition, trends, estimates, consequences and remedies (control)
  • Wholesale Price Index.
  • Consumer Price Index: components and trends.

UPSC IES Exam Pattern 2024

Candidates should understand the exam pattern of their target paper along with the detailed UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024. The nature of the exam is descriptive type in UPSC IES. Candidates are expected to attempt 6 papers worth 1000 marks in total.
  • Paper I and Paper II are worth 100 marks each.
  • Papers III to VI are worth 200 marks each.
  • Candidates have 3 hours to complete each paper on the given date.
  • There will be two papers on the same day in two shifts.
UPSC IES Exam Pattern 2024
Subject Maximum Marks Time Allowed
General English 100 3 Hours
General Studies 100 3 Hours
General Economics I 200 3 Hours
General Economics II 200 3 Hours
General Economics III 200 3 Hours
Indian Economics 200 3 Hours

UPSC Indian Statistical Service Syllabus 2024

The Indian Statistical Service exam consists of 6 papers in total. Apart from two common papers with IES, the UPSC ISS exam has four papers on Statistics with varied subjects and the nature of the exam. Statistics I & II have objective-type questions whereas Statistics III & IV are subjective in nature. The UPSC IES ISS syllabus for the ISS exam is as follows:

UPSC ISS Syllabus for Objective Papers

Statistics I and Statistics II have 80 questions each worth 200 marks. Candidates are allowed 120 minutes or 2 hours to complete these papers. Both papers are held on the same day in different shifts. UPSC ISS subjects that will be asked in objective papers are provided here:
UPSC ISS Syllabus Overview - Objective Papers
Statistics I Statistics II
  1. Probability
  2. Statistical Methods
  3. Numerical Analysis
    1. Finite differences of different orders
    2. Concept of interpolation and extrapolation
    3. Inverse interpolation
    4. Numerical differentiation
    5. Summation of Series
    6. Numerical solutions of differential equations
  4. Computer Application and Data Processing
    1. Basics of Computer
    2. Basics of Programming
  1. Linear Models
    1. Theory of linear estimation
    2. Gauss
  2. Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Testing
    1. Characteristics of good estimator
    2. Hypothesis testing
  3. Official Statistics
    1. National and International official statistical system
    2. National Statistical Organization
    3. National Statistical Commission
    4. Index Numbers
    5. Sector Wise Statistics
    6. National Accounts
    7. Population Census, Misc

UPSC ISS Syllabus for Descriptive Papers

The Statistics III and IV have descriptive type 50% short answer questions and 50% long answer/comprehension questions. Candidates must attempt at least one short answer and one long answer question from each section. Here is the UPSC ISS syllabus for both papers:
UPSC ISS Syllabus Overview- Descriptive Papers
Statistics III Statistics IV
  1. Sampling Techniques
  2. Econometrics
  3. Applied Statistics
  1. Operations Research and Reliability
  2. Demography and Vital Statistics
  3. Survival Analysis and Clinical Trial
  4. Quality Control
  5. Multivariate Analysis
  6. Design and Analysis of Experiments:
  7. Computing with C and R

UPSC ISS Exam Pattern 2024

The Indian Statistical Service exam pattern is slightly different from the UPSC IES exam. While there are four statistics papers, the nature and type of questions differ for each. According to the UPSC IES ISS syllabus PDF, Statistics I and II are objective in nature, and Statistics III and IV are descriptive in nature.
  • The duration o f Statistics I & II papers is 2 hours and for the remaining papers, it is 3 hours.
  • All Statistics papers are worth equal marks i.e. 200 irrespective of the nature of the exam.
  • There are 80 multiple choice type questions in Statistics I & II papers.
  • There are 7 sections in Statistics IV from which candidates must select any 2 sections.
UPSC ISS Exam Pattern 2024
Subject Nature of Exam Maximum Marks Time Allowed
General English Descriptive 100 3 Hours
General Studies Descriptive 100 3 Hours
Statistics I Objective 200 2 Hours
Statistics II Objective 200 2 Hours
Statistics III Descriptive 200 3 Hours
Statistics IV Descriptive 200 3 Hours
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UPSC IES ISS Syllabus 2024 FAQs

Who prepares the UPSC IES ISS 2024 syllabus?

The Union Public Service Commission is authorized to prepare the UPSC IES ISS 2024 syllabus on behalf of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

What is the structure of the UPSC ISS exam?

The UPSC ISS exam has 6 papers, of these papers Statistics I & Statistics II are objective types of 2 hours duration and the remaining are descriptive types of 3 hours duration.

How many papers are there in the UPSC IES exam?

There are 6 papers in a total of 3 hours duration in the UPSC IES exam.

Is there any negative marking in the UPSC IES ISS exam?

Yes, there is a negative marking in the UPSC ISS exam for Statistics I & Statistics II objective papers.

What are the total marks of the UPSC IES ISS exam?

The written exam of UPSC IES ISS is worth 1000 marks and the interview is worth 200 marks.
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