Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24: Education spending shrinks in villages, swells in cities

NEW DELHI: Indians in villages spent a smaller share of their income towards education, even as those in urban areas have expended more on their children’s schools and colleges.

The latest edition of the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), released on Thursday by the union ministry of statistics and program implementation, shows that on average and in absolute terms, both rural and urban households spent more on education in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. While rural India incurred a Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 133, up from Rs 125 in 2022-23, the monthly education cost for city-dwellers rose from Rs 374 to Rs 418.

However, in terms of the proportion of education in overall out-of-pocket expenses, the rural areas recorded a marginal drop from 3.3% to 3.24%. In cities, this figure rose from 5.78% to 5.97%, heightening the disparity between the two parts of the country.

Data from previous consumption reports indicates that the percentage of education spending had steadily climbed up in both village and city households in the first decade of the millennium – peaking at 3.45% in rural and 8.09% in urban areas in 2009-10 – before experiencing a gradual, if relatively less steep, fall.

Percentage of education in monthly per-capita consumption expenditure

HCES 2024-24: Education in states

Among states, Haryana continues to record the highest education spending (9.2% of all non-food expenditure) in rural households. The state had topped the list on this metric in 2022-23 with an even higher spending percentage of 10.5%.

Telangana leads in urban areas with education accounting for 12.79% of money spent on non-food goods and services by families in the state’s cities. In the previous year, this spot belonged to Karnataka, where an average 12% of non-food amount went towards educating youngsters.

At 1.92%, Chhattisgarh spent the least in villages, while Odisha registered the lowest urban expenditure of 6.05% relative to overall non-food spending.

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Periodically conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) since 1950, the data collected through HCES is used to evaluate trends in economic well-being and to help update the availability of consumer goods and services. The study is also useful in determining the weights for Consumer Price Indices.

The latest round of survey was carried out from August 2023 to July 2024, with information gathered from 2,61,953 households – 1,54,357 of them in rural areas and 1,07,596 in urban areas – across all the states and union territories of the country. A survey of similar magnitude was last conducted between August 2022 and July 2023.