January sees modest rise in India’s demat accounts; Groww adds most new clients

India’s active demat account base on the Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded a marginal increase in January 2026, reflecting a period of measured retail participation amid volatile market conditions.

Total active accounts rose to 4.511 crore in January from 4.481 crore in December, translating into net additions of around 3.02 lakh accounts month-on-month.

Despite the modest industry-wide growth, January’s data highlights a divergence in client acquisition trends among brokerages. Groww added roughly 3.53 lakh active clients during the month, increasing its active client base from 1.212 crore in December to 1.248 crore in January.

This growth exceeded the overall industry net addition and raised Groww’s share of total NSE active demat accounts to 27.66% from 27.06% in December, marking a gain of nearly 60 basis points. Over a longer period, Groww’s market share has steadily increased from 26.27% in April 2025, reflecting a gain of around 140 basis points over the past nine months.

Other major brokerages reported relatively muted trends. Zerodha’s active clients remained broadly flat, while its market share slipped slightly to 15.20%.

Angel One’s active base fell marginally to 0.674 crore, lowering its market share to 14.95%. ICICI Securities added about 19,000 accounts, increasing its total to 0.205 crore and overtaking Upstox in the rankings.

Upstox, on the other hand, saw its client base decline by over 40,000. HDFC Securities and Motilal Oswal also reported small decreases in active clients, indicating that incremental growth was not evenly distributed across the industry.

Looking at broader trends over the past year, the NSE’s active demat account base has gradually declined from a peak of 4.886 crore in April 2025. Monthly totals were 4.861 crore in May 2025, 4.788 crore in June, and 4.716 crore in July, before falling below 4.6 crore in August and further to 4.53 crore in September 2025.

The base stabilised around 4.5 crore in October and November before the December dip to 4.481 crore. January’s increase to 4.511 crore signals a modest rebound, though growth remains moderate compared with earlier periods.

Historical brokerage-level data also shows a pattern of slow shifts in market share. Groww’s active clients have grown from 1.284 crore in April 2025 to 1.248 crore in January 2026, while Zerodha’s base declined from 0.783 crore to 0.686 crore over the same period. Angel One’s active clients fell from 0.75 crore in April 2025 to 0.674 crore in January 2026, illustrating that some of the market consolidation has favored certain brokerages more than others.