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The whole world was drawn towards the star studded pre-wedding bash in Jamnagar this month and is only anticipating what the wedding would look like. This is a testimony of how the perception of Indian lifestyle has changed from being a country of snake charmers to actually hosting one of the biggest wedding events of the decade.
While it is not just big fat weddings, a lot has changed in India over the last decade. ‘Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’ has released “Household Consumption Expenditure Survey:2022-23” which measures the Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) and it summarizes the lifestyle changes occurring in India.
Source:https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Factsheet_HCES_2022-23.pdf
It states that the average MPCE in rural India has been Rs. 3,773 (Food +Non food: 1750+2023=3773) and in urban India has been Rs. 6,459 (Food +Non food: 2530+3929=6459). This perfectly made sense as it is in line with the common perception that the urban lifestyle is more extravagant compared to the conservative rural lifestyle.
However, when we start lifting the layers we start noticing that our perception of extravagant urban lifestyle and conservative rural lifestyle is not completely true.
Source:https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Factsheet_HCES_2022-23.pdf
When we compare the MPCE numbers from the last decade we stumble upon a few surprises which were least expected. Over the last decade rural MPCE has increased approx 163 % while urban MPCE has only increased 145%. A decade ago the difference between rural and urban MPCE was around 83% but now it’s only around 71%. This gap between urban and rural lifestyle is slowly bridging.
This can only mean that putting rural India in a conservative bracket does not hold good anymore. The rural lifestyle has also evolved similar to that of urban. They think and spend as the city dwellers. It’s the income that is holding them, not the mindset. Rural India wishes to have the same comforts of Urban India. This inference only becomes more evident when we look at the consumption pattern of rural and urban india.
Source:https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Factsheet_HCES_2022-23.pdf
Source:https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Factsheet_HCES_2022-23.pdf
We see that the percentage decrease in rural food consumption over the last decade has been around 8 % and the percentage decrease in urban food consumption over the last decade has been around 12 %. Similarly the percentage increase in rural non-food consumption over the last decade has been around 6% and the percentage increase in urban non-food consumption over the last decade has been around 14%. Both Urban and Rural India are consuming in a similar pattern. There is only a difference of magnitude not the direction.
While the difference in lifestyle patterns is not much evident in rural and urban India, it is very much evident between the rich and the poor. The survey states that the bottom 5% of India’s rural population has an average MPCE of Rs. 1,373 while it is Rs. 2,001 for the same category of population in the urban areas. There is only a 45% difference between the urban and rural bottom five. However, the top 5% of India’s rural and urban population, has an average MPCE of Rs. 10,501 and Rs. 20,824, respectively which amounts to a 98% difference between them. The magnitude difference between the rich and the poor in India is doubling.
This is a great story unfolding in front of us. While the rich are attracting the world’s attention towards India in this decade it would be the common man, whether from an urban city or a rural village who would be holding this attention for the coming decade.
Ref:https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Factsheet_HCES_2022-23.pdf
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.