Indian families issue a considerably smaller part of their income on food than two decades ago. In rural areas, the share of monthly expenditure per head of the population for grains has fallen sharply from 22.2 percent in FY2000 to only 4.9 percent in FY24. Urban households witnessed a similar decrease, from 12.4 percent to 3.7 percent in the same period.
The wider category of food expenditure has also seen a consistent decline. In FY2000, food accounted for 59.4 percent of the spending on household households, who fell to 47 percent by FY24. In urban areas, the share fell from 48.1 percent to 39.6 percent in the same period.
“This reflects the improvement of incomes per head of the population and moderating inflation. As the economy grows, the shift of non-discretionary expenses is proof of growth,” said Anitha Rangan, economist, Equirus Securities. She added that falling poverty figures and income growth in the population with a lower income are also reflected in the data.
At the same time, non-food spending has grown in particular, in particular in the countryside of India. Expenditure on transport rose 4.2 percent in FY12 to 7.59 percent in FY24. Expenditure on sustainable goods have risen from 4.85 percent to 6.48 percent, while expenditure for consumer services have risen from 3.99 percent to 5.25 percent.
Nationally, shift also sees
“National India also sees rising incomes per head of the population and a shift in consumption patterns. Government support through schemes such as crop insurance and national employment has contributed to reducing an emergency, making more expenditure in non-food areas possible,” Rangan added.
In the meantime, the share of educational spending was marginal, from 3.49 percent to 3.24 percent in rural areas, and from 6.9 percent to 5.97 percent in urban areas. Experts attributed this to improved access to public education, especially at the primary and secondary level.
Rent remains largely urban costs, in which urban households spend 6.58 percent of their expenses for rent, compared to only 0.56 percent in rural areas. Experts noted that the grim gap in the countryside in the rental spending is largely due to differences in patterns for home ownership, where most countryside households live in self -housing. They also pointed out that the reported figures can partially reflect how attributed rent is estimated in the survey, instead of actual out-of-pocket costs.
Published on July 10, 2025
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