How much did indian households spend on food in 2024?

The amount spent by indian households on food items increased from 2023 to 2024. The main reason for this is food inflation. This is because the cost of all food items, except cooking oil, has increased from 2002 to 2023 compared to what was sold. This information has been revealed in the Household Expenditure Survey. In rural areas, they spent 47.04 percent of their total money on food expenses from 2023 to 2024. This was compared to 46.38 percent from 2022 to 2023. The share of vegetables in the total expenditure on food is 6.3 percent. This was 6.03 percent from 2022 to 2023.

The price of fruits has also increased significantly. It has increased to 2.66 percent in 2024, compared to 2.54 percent in the previous year. However, the amount spent by indians on cooking oil has decreased from 3.59 percent to 2.77 percent. The increase in expenditure is due to increased food inflation last year. Vegetable inflation has been in double digits for 13 months. Similarly, cooking oil prices were slightly lower in the survey, which provided relief.
Although the share of cereals in household expenditure is leading, the survey also revealed that monthly consumption is decreasing in both urban and rural areas. Overall expenditure on food is below 50 percent. But in the 2011 to 2012 survey, the total amount spent on food was 52.9 percent. Compared to this ratio, food expenditure this year is slightly lower. In both urban and rural areas, more was spent on processed food, vegetables, and dairy products than on grains. The pattern of people spending on food has changed compared to the last 10 years. Non-food expenditure has fallen. Clothing, transportation, and consumer services have also decreased compared to last year, the report said.

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