An old piece of investing advice goes like this:
"Before you invest, look at the past, so you can judge the future."
That applies to PPF too. Before you put money into PPF, it helps to know its current interest rate and how the rate has changed over the years. The Government of India started the PPF scheme in 1968 at an interest rate of 4.8%. Since then the rate has gone up and down a lot. In 1999-2000 it was as high as 12%, compared with 4.8% at the start.
The table below gives the full PPF interest rate history, from 1968 to the October to December 2026 quarter. Since April 2016 the government has reviewed the rate every quarter.
| Year | Rate of interest |
|---|---|
| 1968-69 | 4.8% |
| 1969-70 | 4.8% |
| 1970-71 | 5% |
| 1971-72 | 5% |
| 1972-73 | 5% |
| 1973-74 | 5.3% |
| From 1.4.1974 to 31.7.1974 | 5.8% |
| From 1.8.1974 to 31.3.1975 | 7% |
| 1975-76 | 7% |
| 1976-77 | 7% |
| 1977-78 | 7.5% |
| 1978-79 | 7.5% |
| 1979-80 | 7.5% |
| 1980-81 | 8% |
| 1981-82 | 8.5% |
| 1982-83 | 8.5% |
| 1983-84 | 9% |
| 1984-85 | 9.5% |
| 1985-86 | 10% |
| From 1.4.1986 to 31.3.1999 | 12% |
| From 1.4.1999 to 14.1.2000 | 12% |
| From 15.1.2000 to 28.2.2001 | 11% |
| From 1.3.2001 to 28.2.2002 | 9.5% |
| From 1.3.2002 to 28.2.2003 | 9% |
| From 1.3.2003 to 30.11.2011 | 8% |
| From 1.12.2011 to 31.3.2012 | 8.6% |
| From 1.4.2012 to 31.3.2013 | 8.8% |
| From 1.4.2013 to 31.3.2016 | 8.7% |
| From 1.4.2016 to 30.9.2016 | 8.1% |
| From 1.10.2016 to 31.3.2017 | 8% |
| From 1.4.2017 to 30.6.2017 | 7.9% |
| From 1.7.2017 to 31.12.2017 | 7.8% |
| From 1.1.2018 to 30.9.2018 | 7.6% |
| From 1.10.2018 to 30.6.2019 | 8% |
| From 1.7.2019 to 31.3.2020 | 7.9% |
| From 1.4.2020 onwards | 7.1% |
The rate peaked at 12% from 1986 to 2000 and has drifted down since. It has stayed at 7.1% since April 2020. Rates for later quarters are published by the National Savings Institute (nsiindia.gov.in) and India Post, and our PPF calculator uses the current rate.