Learn

Monday, 5 October

NEET UG · 36 states and UTs · 2017–2026

Where NEET’s candidates come from

Candidates appeared and qualified in every state and union territory, and where the top 50 ranks went, from the official NTA and CBSE result releases.

Appeared in 2026
20.0 lakh
19,99,895; a re-exam after the 3 May paper was cancelled
Qualified in 2026
56.1%
11,21,185 candidates
Largest state
3.29 lakh
Uttar Pradesh, 16% of all candidates
Years with state data
8 of 10
2017 and 2021: no official state table

Key findings

  1. 01

    Uttar Pradesh sent the most candidates in 2026: 3,28,847, 16% of everyone who sat the exam. In 2018 the largest was Maharashtra.

  2. 02

    Candidates appearing grew 57% nationally from 2018 to 2026. Among states with 20,000 or more, Uttar Pradesh grew fastest: +156%.

  3. 03

    5 states and UTs had fewer candidates in 2026 than in 2018, led by Lakshadweep (−71%) and Kerala (−22%).

  4. 04

    56% of candidates qualified in 2026. Of the states with 10,000 or more candidates, Rajasthan had the highest rate (69.3%) and Bihar the lowest (49.2%).

  5. 05

    Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra took 33% of the 395 top-50 places listed since 2017, while sending 22% of 2026’s candidates. 24 states and UTs have had at least one.

The map

Every state, every year with data

Pick a measure and a year. Hover or tap a state for its numbers; click or tap to see its trend. The table below follows the same year.

Dashed: no official state data (2017 and 2021). Those years are left empty, never estimated.

Candidates appeared, 2026

  • <2.2k
  • 2.2k+
  • 3.7k+
  • 18k+
  • 50k+
  • 65k+
  • 1.1L+

Ringed dots mark the smallest UTs. Hover or tap a state for its numbers; click or tap to open its trend.

Every state, 2026

Click a column to sort; click a row to open the state above.

Swipe the table sideways for rate, change and top-50 counts.

2026 vs 2025
3,28,8471,70,77051.9%-1%1
2,01,1001,07,30453.4%-17%7
1,92,0231,33,14069.3%+9%9
1,40,07968,96849.2%-12%2
1,17,56465,90156.1%-17%2
1,08,60161,30656.5%-20%3
1,05,51455,65552.7%-11%1
93,38152,74656.5%-12%1
84,66451,78261.2%-30%0
68,83338,14655.4%-14%4
65,12138,02658.4%-7%5
60,18633,22155.2%+4%1
59,28736,62261.8%+6%5
53,84635,13265.2%-12%2
50,11025,00749.9%+2%0
50,00928,33656.7%-16%1
41,11121,29151.8%-6%0
36,28318,43550.8%-13%0
35,05119,03954.3%-1%0
29,35115,74953.7%+3%5
18,00110,12756.3%-11%0
16,7449,59557.3%-12%0
8,3215,07060.9%-22%0
4,7162,45152.0%-8%0
3,9402,17955.3%-23%0
3,6751,88551.3%-24%0
3,6541,80749.5%-24%0
3,4251,65848.4%-11%0
3,2891,94659.2%-7%0
2,6221,83970.1%-2%1
2,1661,35362.5%-10%0
1,67789953.6%-3%0
1,09257953.0%-14%0
89949154.6%-45%0
71736951.5%-23%0
904347.8%-62%0
Others (incl. outside India)3,9062,31859.3%+105%0
All India19,99,89511,21,18556.1%-9%50

Rate = qualified ÷ appeared. Appeared change compares with the previous year that has an official state table. Top-50 AIRs counts ranks up to 50 in the published toppers list (2017 published only 25 names, 2021 only 20, and the 2019 list was not retrieved). A dash means no official figure.

Compare

Who qualifies, who grew

The share qualifying ranges widely between states, and the number of candidates has not grown evenly: some states more than doubled from 2018 to 2026 while a few shrank.

14 of 36

states and UTs qualified above the All India rate in 2026

40%50%60%70%80%
  • Chandigarh70.1%
  • Rajasthan69.3%
  • Delhi65.2%
  • Mizoram62.5%
  • Haryana61.8%
  • Kerala61.2%
  • Manipur60.9%
  • Nagaland59.2%
  • Telangana58.4%
  • Himachal Pradesh57.3%
  • Odisha56.7%
  • West Bengal56.5%
  • Tamil Nadu56.5%
  • Uttarakhand56.3%
  • Karnataka56.1%
  • Gujarat55.4%
  • Arunachal Pradesh55.3%
  • Andhra Pradesh55.2%
  • Ladakh54.6%
  • Jharkhand54.3%
  • Punjab53.7%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu53.6%
  • Maharashtra53.4%
  • Sikkim53.0%
  • Madhya Pradesh52.7%
  • Puducherry52.0%
  • Uttar Pradesh51.9%
  • Chhattisgarh51.8%
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands51.5%
  • Goa51.3%
  • Assam50.8%
  • Jammu and Kashmir49.9%
  • Tripura49.5%
  • Bihar49.2%
  • Meghalaya48.4%
  • Lakshadweep47.8%

All India 56.1% Above Below

Qualified ÷ appeared, 2026. The very small UTs move a lot from year to year: Lakshadweep had 90 candidates.

+57%

candidates appeared, 2018 to 2026, All India

201820261001k10k1 lakhArunachal Pradesh: 3,475 → 3,940 (+13%)Assam: 23,108 → 36,283 (+57%)Chandigarh: 1,309 → 2,622 (+100%)Chhattisgarh: 23,773 → 41,111 (+73%)Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu: 748 → 1,677 (+124%)Delhi: 27,666 → 53,846 (+95%)Goa: 3,338 → 3,675 (+10%)Haryana: 29,476 → 59,287 (+101%)Himachal Pradesh: 12,295 → 16,744 (+36%)Jammu and Kashmir: 23,085 → 50,110 (+117%)Manipur: 5,780 → 8,321 (+44%)Meghalaya: 2,515 → 3,425 (+36%)Mizoram: 1,292 → 2,166 (+68%)Nagaland: 2,045 → 3,289 (+61%)Odisha: 32,301 → 50,009 (+55%)Puducherry: 4,462 → 4,716 (+6%)Punjab: 14,825 → 29,351 (+98%)Sikkim: 785 → 1,092 (+39%)Tripura: 3,150 → 3,654 (+16%)Uttarakhand: 12,075 → 18,001 (+49%)Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 912 → 717 (-21%)Andaman and Nicobar … −21%Andhra Pradesh: 49,253 → 60,186 (+22%)Andhra Pradesh +22%Bihar: 63,003 → 1,40,079 (+122%)Bihar +122%Gujarat: 72,351 → 68,833 (-5%)Gujarat −5%Jharkhand: 14,838 → 35,051 (+136%)Jharkhand +136%Karnataka: 85,288 → 1,17,564 (+38%)Karnataka +38%Kerala: 1,08,907 → 84,664 (-22%)Kerala −22%Lakshadweep: 313 → 90 (-71%)Lakshadweep −71%Madhya Pradesh: 46,406 → 1,05,514 (+127%)Madhya Pradesh +127%Maharashtra: 1,77,353 → 2,01,100 (+13%)Maharashtra +13%Rajasthan: 79,057 → 1,92,023 (+143%)Rajasthan +143%Tamil Nadu: 1,14,602 → 1,08,601 (-5%)Tamil Nadu −5%Telangana: 44,877 → 65,121 (+45%)Telangana +45%Uttar Pradesh: 1,28,329 → 3,28,847 (+156%)Uttar Pradesh +156%West Bengal: 55,888 → 93,381 (+67%)West Bengal +67%

Each line is a state, 2018 on the left and 2026 on the right; log scale, so equal slopes mean equal growth. Dashed lines fell. Ladakh is left out: it had no row of its own in 2018.

Top ranks

Where the top 50 came from

A handful of states win most top-50 ranks year after year, more than their share of candidates. The national numbers behind every year sit beside them.

33%

of 395 top-50 places went to Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra

  • Rajasthan48

    ’17’19’26

  • Delhi45

    ’17’19’26

  • Maharashtra36

    ’17’19’26

  • Andhra Pradesh29

    ’17’19’26

  • Gujarat28

    ’17’19’26

  • Telangana28

    ’17’19’26

  • Punjab25

    ’17’19’26

  • Karnataka22

    ’17’19’26

Top 50 Shorter list (2017: 25, 2021: 20) No list (2019)

Top-50 AIRs per published list, for the eight states with the most. Number beside each name: total across 9 lists.

22.8 lakh

registered in 2026, 20.0 lakh appeared

05L10L15L20L25L’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26Official state table (dashed: none published)2017: no official state data2018: state table published2019: state table published2020: state table published2021: no official state data2022: state table published2023: state table published2024: state table published2025: state table published2026: state table published2017 registered: 11,38,8902018 registered: 13,26,7252019 registered: 15,19,3752020 registered: 15,97,4352021 registered: 16,14,7772022 registered: 18,72,3432023 registered: 20,87,4622024 registered: 24,06,0792025 registered: 22,76,0692026 registered: 22,79,743Registered2017 appeared: 10,90,0852018 appeared: 12,69,9222019 appeared: 14,10,7552020 appeared: 13,66,9452021 appeared: 15,44,2752022 appeared: 17,64,5712023 appeared: 20,38,5962024 appeared: 23,33,1622025 appeared: 22,09,3182026 appeared: 19,99,895Appeared2017 qualified: 6,11,5392018 qualified: 7,14,5622019 qualified: 7,97,0422020 qualified: 7,71,5002021 qualified: 8,70,0742022 qualified: 9,93,0692023 qualified: 11,45,9762024 qualified: 13,15,8532025 qualified: 12,36,5312026 qualified: 11,21,185Qualified

All India totals for all ten years, including 2017 and 2021, which have totals but no state table. 2026 dips: the exam was held again after the 3 May paper was cancelled.

Method

Sources and how to read this

Where do the numbers come from?

Every number is transcribed from an official result release: CBSE for 2017 and 2018, NTA from 2019. For each year with a state table, the state rows plus “Others” add up exactly to the official registered, appeared and qualified totals.

Why are 2017 and 2021 empty?
Neither year's result release has a state-wise table, and no other official document with one was found. The 2022 release has a column labelled 2021, but it repeats the 2020 figures row for row, so it is not used. We leave the years empty rather than estimate them.
Which version of 2024 is this?
The re-revised result of 26 July 2024, issued after the Supreme Court-ordered re-evaluation. It excluded 135 unfair-means cases (appeared 23,33,162) and has 17 candidates at AIR 1. Some state rows differ slightly from the first result of 4 June 2024.
What does qualified mean?
Scoring at or above the qualifying percentile for the candidate’s category (the 50th percentile for General/UR). Qualifying makes a candidate eligible for counselling; it is not a seat.
How are the top-50 counts made?
From the toppers list in each year’s release, we count the ranks up to 50 by the state printed beside them. 2017 published 25 names and 2021 published 20, so those years count fewer places. The 2019 list was not retrieved. 2021 ranks had many ties because no age tie-breaker was used. Names are never shown.
Whose map is this?
India’s boundary as published by the Survey of India, including all of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. State and UT outlines are from DataMeet’s India maps (States/Admin2, updated to the Survey of India map in 2021) by the DataMeet India community, licensed CC BY 4.0. We simplified the outlines for the web; small UTs are drawn as ringed dots so they can be tapped.

Back to the NEET past-paper report