Rural India's FMCG basket grows 60% in two years: Report

Rural India’s media consumption is becoming hybrid, with 1 in 2 rural consumers exposed to both online and offline media, the study revealed.

There has been nearly a 60 percent increase in the average fast-moving consumer goods basket size of rural consumers in the past two years, a report has said.

The positive trend in rural areas has been boosted by  growing preference for convenience products and diversity in income groups, said the report by GroupM in partnership with Kantar, a leading global marketing data and analytics firm.

"Rural India has seen a marked increase in the average basket size from 5.88 in 2022 to 9.3 in 2024, driven by higher consumption in convenience categories like RTE, beverages etc," the report, released on November 11, says.

Regional variations exist, with Jammu & Kashmir (39 percent), Maharashtra (41 percent) and Odisha (26 percent) showing moderate growth in the FMCG basket despite lower financial worries.

“What we have found is that those individuals with more diverse income sources are the ones adopting more categories versus those who depend solely on agriculture,” said Puneet Avasthi, director, specialist businesses, insights division at Kantar.

Also Read | India dominates APAC with double-digit growth across FMCG, tech, durables: NielsenIQ report

Called the Rural Barometer Report, the study is about consumption patterns and economic behaviour of rural Indians in 20 states. Around 4,376 rural adults, aged 18 years and above, participated in the study.

Media consumption

Rural India’s media consumption is becoming hybrid, with one in two consumers exposed to both online and offline media. From payments and e-commerce to gaming and lifestyle content, the digital landscape is expanding rapidly, it said.

Shift to lifestyle content

Rural consumers are now drawn to lifestyle-related content such as fashion, health and travel, reflecting a growing interest in topics that enhance their day-to-day lives.

Rise in e-commerce

There has been a significant shift in rural India towards digital payments and e-commerce, which has 42 percent and 23 percent of active internet respectively. This shift indicates growing financial and digital inclusion in rural parts of India.

(With agency inputs)