Western India scores 65 on Overall Health, Finds ManipalCigna India Health Quotient* 2026
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, October 21, 2026: ManipalCigna Health Insurance, one of India's leading health insurers, has released insights specific to Western India from India Health Quotient (IHQ) 2026, a study conducted by YouGov on behalf of ManipalCigna Health Insurance. The IHQ is a proprietary multi-dimensional index measuring self-assessed health across five dimensions: Physical, Mental, Financial, Occupational, and Social. The study covered 2,600 urban Indian respondents across 16 cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Surat from the western region.
India's overall health score stands at 65 out of 100, with Western India at par with the national average of 65 (out of 100). Across urban India, on the overall health score, Physical Health remains the strongest dimension with a score of 68/100, while Financial Health scores 62/100, highlighting the need for stronger financial preparedness as a critical pillar of overall wellbeing.
Sapna Desai, Chief Marketing Officer, ManipalCigna Health Insurance, said, “The Western India findings highlight an interesting contrast between ambition and wellbeing. Mumbai residents are significantly more likely than those in other western cities (Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara) to report access to opportunities for professional growth and advancement (55% versus 47%). Yet the city records a lower overall wellbeing score (62/100 versus 66/100) and trails its regional peers across physical, mental, financial and social wellbeing indicators. The findings suggest that professional success alone does not translate into overall wellbeing. As cities become increasingly fast-paced and competitive, sustaining wellbeing requires equal attention to quality sleep, financial preparedness, social connections and long-term health security. Ultimately, wellbeing is strongest when progress is balanced across all dimensions of health, rather than concentrated in just one."
Within the west region, Mumbai emerges as an outlier. The findings suggest that the city's wellbeing challenges are not driven by any single factor but reflect a broader imbalance across multiple aspects of wellbeing. Sleep is one of the most significant differentiators. Only 53% of Mumbai respondents rate themselves highly on getting enough quality sleep, compared to 62% of respondents in Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara.
Mumbai residents also report lower levels of financial preparedness, with fewer respondents rating themselves highly on maintaining an emergency fund, saving and investing regularly, and planning financially for their children's future. Social wellbeing also appears weaker in financial capital. Only 44% of Mumbai respondents rate themselves highly on participating in community or group activities, compared to 54% in the rest of West India (Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara). Taken together, these findings highlight how urban wellbeing is increasingly shaped by factors beyond professional achievement, including rest, financial preparedness and social connectedness.
The study also identifies health insurance ownership as one of the strongest predictors of overall wellbeing. Urban Indians with health insurance record an overall wellbeing score of 68/100, compared to 62/100 among those without health insurance. This 6-point gap named “Wellbeing Premium" is consistent across regions, age groups, genders and stress levels. Across every cohort studied, insured individuals report stronger Physical, Mental and Financial wellbeing than their uninsured counterparts.
Notably, this Wellbeing Premium is larger than the gender gap, with both men and women scoring 65, exceeds the regional difference between major metros such as Mumbai (62/100) and Bengaluru (63/100), and is greater than the gap between India's youngest and oldest age groups (63/100 versus 65/100). The advantage also persists across different stress levels, suggesting that health insurance ownership is consistently associated with stronger wellbeing outcomes across population segments.
The ManipalCigna India Health Quotient 2026 reinforces the company's commitment to advancing conversations around holistic wellbeing. By generating evidence-based insights into how Indians perceive and experience health, the study aims to inform more responsive solutions that address the evolving health and protection needs of urban India.
