India’s National Statistical Office (NSO) reported food took a smaller share of average monthly spending per person in 2023-24 than in 2011-12, although it edged up year over year, highlighting a change in household outlays.
The NSO’s Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) measures spending on goods and services. It put food at 47.04% of average monthly per-capita expenditure in rural India and 39.68% in urban areas. Non-food items made up the other 52.96% in rural areas and 60.32% in urban areas. The estimates leave out imputed values for goods supplied free through welfare programs.
Over the 12-year comparison, food’s share fell from 52.90% to 47.04% in rural areas and from 42.62% to 39.68% in urban areas. Against 2022-23, however, the shares rose from 46.38% to 47.04% rurally and from 39.17% to 39.68% in urban areas. The longer-term decline was not a steady annual fall.
The Economic Times, citing ANI, reported Saturday that SBI Research’s India’s Consumption Journey put food at 32.82% of total household consumption, with non-food goods and services near 67%. Although 32.82% is below both HCES shares, a like-for-like comparison is not established: ANI described total household consumption, while HCES measures average monthly per-capita expenditure. ANI’s account did not define the basis for its figure or reconcile it with the HCES rural and urban shares.
NSO’s survey covered 261,953 households from August 2023 to July 2024: 154,357 in rural areas and 107,596 in urban areas. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) says the survey helps assess economic well-being and contributes to the mix of items and weights in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
