Over the weekend, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released data from the Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (HCES) that was conducted in 2022-23. The survey results, which shows what Indian households are consuming and spending on, was the first such data to be released in over 11 years since the last exercise was conducted in 2011-12. The data is essential not only for updating the consumer price inflation (CPI) baskets but also gives policymakers and experts an assessment on the income and expenditure levels of households and how and where they are spending their money and gauge the efficacy of policy measures. Field work for the second year of HCES 2022-24 has been initiated from August 2023.The HCES data for 2022-23 indicates that the income levels of urban and rural households have risen since the last survey, with rural households showing a sharper growth in spending, but also indicates that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.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 (without considering imputed values of items received free of cost through various social welfare programmes) 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.Of this 46% of the expenditure was on food items in rural households and 39% in urban homes in 2022-23.Join Siddharth Zarabi, Managing Editor of Business Today TV, in conversation with Saugata Bhattacharya, Economist, and Siddhartha Sanyal, Chief Economist at Bandhan Bank, as they discuss the findings of the survey.
