Inequality dipped over the past decade’

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Last Updated24/03/2024

The Finance Ministry asserted that India experienced “inclusive growth” over the past decade, citing “reassuring findings” of the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey of 2022-23.

“The rural-urban divide in MPCE [monthly per capita consumption expenditure] has declined considerably,” the Ministry said.
“Within rural and urban areas, the consumption of the lowest 5% of the MPCE population grew at a faster rate than the top 5%,
- Pointing to a decline in inequality over the last decade.”
Juxtaposing the MPCE numbers with per capita gross national income, reveal an inclusive trend in economic growth, it held.
“The MPCE/PCI ratio has increased for all consumption classes except the top 5% in rural India and the top 10% in urban India.

It is conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) every 5 years.
It is designed to collect information on the consumption of goods and services by households.
The data collected in HCES is also utilized for deriving various other macroeconomic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), poverty rates, and Consumer Price Inflation (CPI).
NITI Aayog has stated that the latest consumer expenditure survey indicated that poverty has come down to 5% in the country.
The findings of the last HCES, conducted in 2017-18 were not released after the government cited “data quality” issues.
Information Generated: Provides information on the typical spending on both goods (including food and non-food items) and services.
Additionally, assists in calculating estimates for household Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) and analyzing the distribution of households and individuals across different MPCE categories.

The estimates of average monthly per capita consumption expenditure were generated
- Without imputing the value figures of the items received free by the households through various social welfare programmes
- Such as Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.