EconomyHouseholds
Are villages spending like cities?
Rural households have sounded less gloomy than urban ones in every rounds since RBI's rural survey entered its workbook in September 2023. In MoSPI's consumption survey, rural spending per person grew faster than urban between 2022-23 and 2023-24, 10.0% against 8.5%.
Written for anyone who wants to know whether rural India is keeping up with the cities. Survey round September 2026.
Mood
Rural confidence was 90.6 in September 2026 against 87.9 in the cities, and on average 3.0 points higher over the 19 rounds both surveys report. On jobs the rural net response was −10.5 against −21.6 in the cities.
Current situation index, rural and urban
RBI's two surveys, each round from September 2023.
How to read it. The two surveys use different samples (villages against 19 large cities), so a gap between them is partly how each is drawn; their movements are the better comparison.
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Vehicles
Two-wheelers and tractors sell mostly outside the big cities, cars mostly in them. Over the six months to September 2026, two-wheeler registrations grew 21.3% on a year earlier, tractors 20.4% and cars 25.6%.
Two-wheeler and car registrations, growth on a year earlier
Monthly, from 2013, with a 12-month average drawn heavier.
How to read it. Single months jump with festivals and price changes; the heavier 12-month averages show which kind of vehicle has been growing faster over each year.
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Spending per person
MoSPI's household consumption survey put average spending per person at ₹4,247 a month in villages and ₹7,078 in towns and cities in 2023-24. Urban households spent 1.67 times as much as rural ones, a little less than the 1.69 of 2022-23. Food took 48.4% of rural spending and 40.3% of urban, slightly more than a year before.
Average monthly spending per person
₹ a month, 2022-23 and 2023-24, including the value of free items such as rations (MoSPI's 'with imputation' estimate).
How to read it. Before allowing for prices. Two survey years are not a trend, and the 2011-12 survey used a different design, so it is not set beside them.
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Bottom and top
The poorest 5% of rural people spent ₹1,677 a month each in 2023-24, 22.1% more than in 2022-23; the richest 5% spent ₹10,137, up −3.5%. In the cities the bottom 5% spent ₹2,376 and the top 5% ₹20,310. MoSPI's Gini coefficient of consumption fell from 0.261 to 0.230 in villages and from 0.309 to 0.279 in cities.
Fractiles here are MoSPI's estimates without imputed free items. Consumption surveys are known to miss the richest households, so the top is understated and inequality with it.
The workings
The question
Data
Every chart has a table view, a CSV download and a link to its published JSON. Bundles are listed in data status.