NEET UG 2026: Year-wise Qualified vs Appeared Candidates (2018–2025 Data Analysis)
An analysis of NEET UG data from 2018-2025 reveals a significant increase in applicants, highlighting escalating competition for limited medical seats. Despite a stable qualification percentage, securing a government college spot remains highly challenging for NEET UG 2026 aspirants.
Key Points
- NEET UG applications surged from 12.7L in 2018 to 23.3L in 2024 before declining in 2025.
- The NEET qualifying percentage remains stable at ~56% despite rising applicant numbers.
- In 2025, ~12.3L qualified, but only ~1.1L MBBS seats are available nationwide.
The National Eligibility and Admission Test (NEET) UG exam will soon be conducted for the 2026 session. As one of the most competitive medical exams, learning about the past data of those who appeared vs those who qualified will greatly help in assessing competitiveness and NEET cutoff trends for this year. For NEET UG 2026 aspirants, we have prepared year-wise Qualified vs Appeared Candidates based on 2018–2025 Data Analysis. Candidates can use this data to analyze, estimate, and strategize their preparation for the upcoming exam.
NEET UG 2026: 2018–2025 Data Analysis
Over the past eight years, the number of participants for NEET UG for medical has grown in large numbers, offering a clear view of how demanding MBBS degree is even to this date. Given here is a detailed analysis based on past trends, and NTA official figures.
| Year | Candidates Appeared | Candidates Qualified |
| 2018 | 12,69,922 | 7,14,562 |
| 2019 | 14,10,755 | 7,97,042 |
| 2020 | 13,66,945 | 7,71,500 |
| 2021 | 15,44,275 | 8,70,074 |
| 2022 | 17,64,571 | 9,93,069 |
| 2023 | 20,38,596 | 11,45,976 |
| 2024 | 23,33,297 | 13,15,853 |
| 2025 | 22,09,318 | 12,36,531 |
Analysis of NEET UG (2018-2025)
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Exponential Growth: Registrations nearly quadrupled in six years, reaching over 23.3 lakh in 2024 before slightly declining in 2025.
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Stable Qaulifying Percentage: Despite an increase in applicants, the qualification percentage stays around 56% due to the 50th percentile threshold.
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Seats Availability: In 2025, around 12.3 lakh students qualified for MBBS, but there are only around 1.1 lakh places available nationwide.
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The 8% Rule: "Qualifying" is rarely enough; typically, only the top 5-8% of qualifiers are accepted into government medical colleges.
The process of “Appearing’ to "Qualified" is very tedious. Only few get the opportunity to reach there but in that few getting "Selected" is the true difficulty. As the NEET UG 2026 exam is upcoming, the competition is high. The applicants should focus on important topics and consistent mock exam practice to achieve a seat among the top few.
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Jaya Gupta is an Education Content professional with over four years of experience in writing marketing and academic content, alongside a year of experience working with an indie publishing house. Currently, she is covering higher education content for Jagran Josh (Jagran New Media), leveraging her academic knowledge. She specializes in covering management, engineering, law, medical colleges, study abroad and GATE exams. She holds a Master's degree in English Literature, successfully qualified the 2024 UGC NET, and has guided more than 100 students in framing effective study-abroad academic essays. Her writing interests vary across education, creative expression, and digital culture.
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