Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) recently released highlights of the latest nationwide Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) conducted during 2022-23 by the National Statistical Office.

The Household Consumption Expenditure surveys are held in a gap of five years, the government had not released the survey results of its 75th round for July 2017-June 2018,  after the demonetisation of high-value currency notes and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). It was stated that there was a significant variation in the levels in consumption pattern as well as in the direction of change. Hence, the recent report has been released after a gap of over 10 years.

Key Parameters Tracked

The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) captures detailed household spending data across rural and urban areas on categories like food, education, health, transportation etc. providing crucial insights on consumption behavioural shifts.
The survey collects information on consumption of goods and services by the households.

Highlights

The report reveals that rural consumption spending has risen more than urban consumption spending during the 11 year period.
As per the survey, rural average monthly consumption spending per person increased to Rs 3,773 per month in 2022-23 from Rs 1,430 per person in 2011-12, a jump of 164 per cent.
This is higher than the 146 per cent increase in urban average monthly consumption expenditure per person to Rs 6,459 in 2022-23 compared with Rs 2,630 per person in 2011-12.
The data also marks the improving Rural-Urban Consumption parity between rural and urban areas and bridging of consumption divide.

Change in Purchase priority

Boost in Rural Non-Food Spending Share of non-food products like consumer durables in monthly rural consumption budget has expanded from 47% to 54% between 2011-12 and 2022-23 while food items share dropped from 53% to 46%. Consumption expenditure on non-food items in both rural India and urban India was mainly driven by a rise in share of spending on conveyance, consumer services, durable goods.

Top and Bottom

As per the report, the bottom 5 per cent of rural population has an average Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 1,373, while it is Rs 2,001 for the bottom 5 per cent of urban population. The top 5 per cent of the rural and urban population has an average MPCE of Rs 10,501 and Rs 20,824, respectively.

Lower Poverty Projections

B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre’s think tank NITI Aayog, BVR Subrahmanyam recently highlighted latest nationwide survey data of HCES, indicating historically lowest levels of 4-5% poor population. Less than 5 % lie below the economic poverty marker of monthly income under ₹5000 against historical highs of 22% few years back.

The Ministry said that it has only released a factsheet for 2022-23 and will release a detailed report soon. This data will play a pivotal role in reviewing critical economic indicators, including the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), poverty levels, and the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI).

Category: Economy & Banking Current Affairs