The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on February 24 released the broad findings of the All India Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) carried out between August 2022 and July 2023.
- The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) is usually conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) every five years.
- According to the data, the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of both urban and rural households doubled in the 11-year period with both spending lesser on food items.
- The MPCE for rural households rose to Rs 3,773 in HCES 2022-23 from Rs 1,430 in 2011-12.
- Similarly, the MPCE for urban households increased to Rs 6,459 in 2022-23 from Rs 2,630 in the previous round.
- The proportion of spending on food has dropped to 46.4% for rural households from 52.9% in 2011-12, while their urban peers spent just 39.2% of their overall monthly outgoes on food compared with 42.6% incurred 11 years earlier.
- This reduction could translate into a lower weightage for food prices in the country’s retail inflation calculations.
- The bottom 5% of India’s rural population, ranked by MPCE, has an average MPCE of Rs 1,441, while it is Rs 2,087 in urban areas. This translates into a daily average consumption expenditure of Rs 48 in rural areas and Rs 69.5 in urban areas for the bottom 5%.
- The MPCE is the highest in Sikkim for both rural (Rs 7,731) and urban areas (Rs 12,105). It is the lowest in Chhattisgarh, where it was Rs 2,466 for rural households and Rs 4,483 for urban household members.
- The questionnaire of HCES 2022-23 contains 405 items as against 347 items in 2011-12.
- Further, a single questionnaire was used in all NSS surveys on household consumption expenditure prior to HCES: 2022-23. However, in HCES: 2022-23, three separate questionnaires covering (i) food items, (iii) consumables and services items, and (iii) durable goods have been used.
