Context: 

The National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has published a factsheet of Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES):2023-24. 

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• Following the normalization of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MoSPI decided to conduct two consecutive surveys on household consumption expenditure for 2022-23 and 2023-24.
• The first survey, conducted from August 2022 to July 2023, had its summary factsheet released in February 2024, followed by the detailed report and unit-level data in June 2024.
• The fieldwork of the second survey was undertaken from August 2023 to July 2024 throughout the entire country, whose factsheet has now been released by the MoSPI. 

Key Findings of HCES (2023-24)

Average MPCE: The average MPCE in rural and urban India in 2023-24 has been estimated to be Rs. 4,122 and Rs. 6,996.

• Considering the imputed values of items received free of cost through various social welfare programmes, these estimates become Rs. 4,247 and Rs. 7,078 respectively, for rural and urban areas. 

Urban-Rural MPCE Gap: The gap reduced from 84% in 2011-12 to 70% in 2023-24, indicating continued consumption growth in rural areas.

MPCE by Income Group: The bottom 5% of India's population has an average MPCE of ₹1,677 in rural areas and ₹2,376 in urban areas.

• The top 5% records an average MPCE of ₹10,137 in rural areas and ₹20,310 in urban areas.

MPCE Growth by Income Group: The largest increase in MPCE in 2023-24 was seen in the bottom 5-10% of India's population, both in rural and urban areas.

Expenditure Trends: Consistent with the trend observed in HCES:2022-23, non-food items account for the largest share of household expenditure in 2023-24 with about 53% and 60% share in MPCE in rural and urban areas respectively.

• Major contributors to food expenditure (for both rural and urban areas) include Beverages, refreshments, and processed food. 
• Major contributors to food expenditure (for both rural and urban areas) include Conveyance, clothing, bedding & footwear, miscellaneous goods & entertainment. 

Consumption Inequality: Consumption inequality has declined from the level of 2022-23 for both rural and urban areas:

• Rural Gini coefficient: 0.237 (down from 0.266 in 2022-23) 
• Urban Gini coefficient: 0.284 (down from 0.314 in 2022-23).

Variation in MPCE among the States and Union Territories: 

• Among states, Sikkim reports the highest MPCE with ₹9,377 in rural areas and ₹13,927 in urban areas, while Chhattisgarh records the lowest at ₹2,739 in rural areas and ₹4,927 in urban areas.
• Among Union Territories, Chandigarh has the highest MPCE with ₹8,857 in rural areas and ₹13,425 in urban areas, while the lowest is in Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu (₹4,311 rural) and Jammu & Kashmir (₹6,327 urban). 

About Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)

It came into existence as an Independent Ministry in October 1999 after the merger of the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme Implementation. 

The Ministry has two wings: -

• The Statistics Wing called the National Statistical Office (NSO) consists of the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the Computer Center and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). 
• NSSO and CSO were merged in 2005. 
• The Programme Implementation Wing has three Divisions, namely, 

(i) Twenty Point Programme 

(ii) Infrastructure Monitoring and Project Monitoring and 

(iii) Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. 

Besides these two wings, there is the National Statistical Commission created through a Resolution of Government of India (MOSPI) and one autonomous Institute, viz., Indian Statistical Institute declared as an institute of National importance by an Act of Parliament.