Urban-rural consumption expenditure differential falls to 75% in 2022-23: Survey

The rural monthly per capita consumption has seen a faster growth when compared to the urban sector in India.

The average monthly per capita consumption expenditure in rural sector has risen more sharply by 40 percent in 2022-23 as compared to 2011-12 at real prices, while  the MPCE in urban sector has risen 33 percent in the same period, Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation survey released on June 7 showed.

The difference between the urban and rural MPCE has fallen from 84  percent in 2011-12 to 75 percent in 2022-23, the survey on Household Consumption Expenditure : 2022-23  showed.

The average MPCE has been calculated at 2011-12 prices.

In absolute terms, the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure in the rural  sector stood at Rs 1,430 which jumped to Rs 2,008 in 2022-23. While the MPCE in the urban sector rose from Rs 2,630 in 2011-12 to Rs 3,510 in 2022-23.

The rural monthly per capita consumption has seen a faster growth when compared to the urban sector in India. The difference between the urban and rural MPCE has seen a decrease over the years, with the differential reducing from 90 percent in 2009-10 to 75 percent in 2022-23.

In 2009-10, the rural MPCE stood at Rs 1,239 which increased by 15 percent to Rs 1,430 in 2011-12. While on the other hand the urban MPCE increased from Rs 2,358 in 2009-10 to Rs 2,630 in 2011-12, registering an increase of 11 percent.

The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union except a few inaccessible
villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Information in the survey was collected from 8,723 villages and 6,115 urban blocks spread over the entire country covering 2,61,746 households (1,55,014 in rural areas and 1,06,732 in urban areas).

At nominal price

The average estimated MPCE in 2022-23 is observed to be Rs. 3,773 in rural
India and Rs. 6,459 in urban India in nominal terms. Thus, the per capita expenditure level in the urban areas, in nominal terms, and ignoring rural-urban differences in price levels, has been about 71 percent more than that in the rural areas.

The average MPCE at Rs 10,501 of the top 5 percent of the rural population is about 7.6 times of the average MPCE at Rs 1,373 of bottom 5 percent of India’s rural population. The gap in average MPCE between the bottom 5% percent and top 5 percent of the population is more pronounced in the urban areas than the rural areas. The average MPCE is at Rs 20,824
of top 5 percent of the population about 10.4 times of the average MPCE at Rs 2,001 of the bottom 5 percent of the population in urban areas, the survey said.