What a post office fixed deposit pays each year, and in total, for every term
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 18 Oct 2026.A post office FD of ₹1,00,000 for 5 years at 7.5% pays ₹7,714 interest every year, ₹38,570 in all, and returns ₹1,38,570 with the deposit. The post office calls it a Time Deposit: interest is compounded quarterly but paid out yearly. Pick the term and amount to see each payment.
| Term | Rate | Paid each year | In all |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 6.9% | ₹7,081 | ₹7,081 |
| 2 years | 7.0% | ₹7,186 | ₹14,372 |
| 3 years | 7.1% | ₹7,291 | ₹21,873 |
| 5 years | 7.5% | ₹7,714 | ₹38,570 |
Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 18 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Set the "Deposit" to the amount you want to fix, from the chips or the slider.
Switch between the 1, 2, 3 and 5 year chips under "Term" to compare what each pays.
Read "Yearly payout as a rate" to compare it with a bank FD rate.
Read "Interest over" the term and "Deposit back at maturity", and open "Year by year".
The Post Office Time Deposit calculator works out what a post office fixed deposit pays. Pick the term, one, two, three or five years, and enter the deposit; the rate for that term is filled in. You get the interest paid each year, the total over the term and the deposit returned at maturity. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
The one thing to get right is how the interest is paid. The scheme says interest "shall be compounded on quarterly basis and payable to the account holder at the end of each year". So inside a year the rate compounds four times, and at the year's end that interest is paid out. Interest left unwithdrawn earns nothing more. Each year pays the same: deposit × ((1 + rate ÷ 4)^4 − 1), rounded to the nearest rupee. A bank FD that reinvests interest would end a five-year term higher than this; a post office TD pays the same interest every year.
Early closure is not calculated here. Nothing can be withdrawn in the first six months; closed before a year, the deposit earns the post office savings rate; after a year, two percentage points less than the rate for the term. The savings rate on the day you close is not known in advance, so the post office will quote the figure.
The rest of the article, and all 5 questions about Post Office TD Calculator (Time Deposit), are on the Post Office TD Calculator (Time Deposit) page.
At 7.5%, compounded quarterly and paid yearly, ₹1,00,000 earns ₹7,714 each year, which is ₹38,570 over five years. The ₹1 lakh comes back at maturity. Each year's interest is the same because it is paid out rather than added to the deposit.
Yearly. The scheme rule says interest is compounded quarterly and payable at the end of each year of the deposit, counted from the day the account is opened. Unwithdrawn interest earns nothing more, so many people have it credited to a savings account.
A bank's cumulative FD adds each quarter's interest to the deposit for the whole term, so the interest itself earns interest. A post office TD pays the interest out every year, so compounding stops at the end of each year. At 7.5% over five years the gap on ₹1 lakh is about ₹6,400.
Not in the first six months. Between six months and a year, the deposit earns the post office savings account rate. After a year, the interest is recalculated at two percentage points below the rate for the term, and a five-year deposit closed after four years gets the three-year rate.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
Still stuck? Ask about Post Office TD Calculator (Time Deposit) and anybody who knows can answer. No account needed.
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