Household Consumption Expenditure Survey: Why Has Rural India Increased The Consumption Of Processed Food?

The last few years have ubiquitously changed the reach of rural areas to indispensable services and the globalisation wave. The internet revolution has been a fait accompli in the green room of transforming mainstream pictures, resulting in the increased consumption of processed and ready-to-eat food in rural areas. The data by the 'Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation', has registered fresh records with the 'Household Consumption Expenditure Survey', 2022–23. This report is a sneak peek into the past 11 years to accumulate the expenditures and deja-vu domestic upsurges. The report has pinned down crucial scenarios that open up consumer data in rural and urban India.

The Scale Of Comparison In the 'Processed Food And The Harmful Tobacco Consumption' Category: Rural Area

As per the report, the consumption of 'beverage, processed food, and others' has climbed up to 9.2% (total share in MPCE- Monthly per-capita consumer expenditure), which was 7.9% in the 2011–12 data of the 68th round. Similarly, the 'pan, tobacco, & intoxicants' ratio has mounted from 3.21% to 3.79%.

The report has compared the growth in four time segments starting in 1999, but the fall in the absolute consumption of food while the increased share in processed food expenditure is quite concerning.

Financial Differences Are The Key Highlights

The report has marked a multiplication in the financial trenches. The average MPCE (monthly per-capita consumer expenditure) for the bottom population in rural areas is RS. 1,373, while it is RS 2,001 for the urban masses. Rural India has a 46% share in total MPCE under the food category, while urban areas hold 39% of the same. The report underlines the severe financial trenches and the distressing differences. It is bizarre that the share of food expenditures has tumbled, but still, rural India is now more likely to bring processed food to the table than earlier years.