PYQ trend analysis
UPSC Prelims subject-wise weightage
How many GS Paper I questions each subject gets, counted from 2,412 solved previous year questions from 1995 to 2026, each tagged to a subject.
Last 10 years at a glance
Subjects ranked by tagged questions in 2017–2026. Share is each subject's part of the questions tagged in those years.
| Subject | Questions, 2017–2026 | Share | All years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Economy | 241 | 25.1% | 489 |
| History & Culture | 151 | 15.7% | 638 |
| Polity & Governance | 146 | 15.2% | 327 |
| Environment | 141 | 14.7% | 258 |
| Geography | 111 | 11.6% | 270 |
| Science | 101 | 10.5% | 314 |
| Current Affairs | 69 | 7.2% | 116 |
Year-by-year questions per subject
Tagged PYQs per subject for every year in the bank, newest first. Select a year to solve that paper.
| Year | Indian Economy | History & Culture | Polity & Governance | Environment | Geography | Science | Current Affairs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 14 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 24 | 99 |
| 2025 | 25 | 16 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 97 |
| 2024 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 85 |
| 2023 | 20 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 81 |
| 2022 | 28 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 100 |
| 2021 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 98 |
| 2020 | 29 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 102 |
| 2019 | 28 | 14 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 93 |
| 2018 | 30 | 22 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 102 |
| 2017 | 32 | 14 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 103 |
| 2016 | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 110 |
| 2015 | 28 | 16 | 13 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 107 |
| 2014 | 11 | 22 | 11 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 96 |
| 2013 | 21 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 95 |
| 2012 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 60 |
| 2011 | 24 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 62 |
| 2010 | 22 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 75 |
| 2009 | 5 | 26 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 52 |
| 2008 | 3 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 42 |
| 2007 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 47 |
| 2006 | 4 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 48 |
| 2005 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 47 |
| 2004 | 2 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 46 |
| 2003 | 5 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 57 |
| 2002 | 7 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 59 |
| 2001 | 9 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 58 |
| 2000 | 11 | 25 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 70 |
| 1999 | 6 | 31 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 57 |
| 1998 | 3 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 61 |
| 1997 | 4 | 28 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 54 |
| 1996 | 4 | 40 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 17 | 0 | 79 |
| 1995 | 11 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 70 |
How to read these numbers
Each question is tagged to the one subject it mainly tests. Questions that cross subjects, such as an environment question about a treaty, are counted once, so the split can differ from other analyses.
Year totals show how many questions from that year are in the bank. They won't always match the paper (100 questions since 2011, 150 before), because older papers are only partly covered and counts for some recent years are still being reconciled. Read the older rows as a trend.
Use weightage to set a rough time budget, then practise each subject's PYQs topic-wise to see what UPSC actually asks.
Frequently asked questions
- Which subject has the highest weightage in UPSC Prelims?
- In PrelimsAI's PYQ bank for 2017–2026, Indian Economy has the most questions: 241, or 25.1% of the questions tagged in those years. History & Culture is next with 15.7%.
- Which subject has the lowest weightage?
- Current Affairs has the fewest tagged questions in 2017–2026: 69, or 7.2%.
- How is this weightage calculated?
- Each previous year question in PrelimsAI's bank is tagged to one subject. The tables count those tags by year from 1995 to 2026. A question that touches two subjects is counted once, so splits can differ from other analyses.
- Does weightage change from year to year?
- Yes. The year-by-year table shows the swings, which is why weightage is best used to set a rough time budget rather than to skip a subject.
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