The Distribution of Household Income, 2019-2024

FOCUS

The Distribution of Household Income was published by Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. It presents an analysis of household income and expenditure levels in India between 2019 and 2024. 

The study sources its data from Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFS), Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), and Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s Consumer Pyramid Household Survey (CMIE-CPHS). As per PLFS data from 2023, incomes in richer households grew by 6.6 per cent compared to the mere 0.42 per cent increase in the poorest households.

This 7-page document is presented as a single piece document with division across the three data sources - PLFS, HCES, and CMIE-CPHS; and it ends with detailed brief about the sources and a comparison of the data made available by each.

    FACTOIDS

  1. PLFS data revealed that the poorest 10 per cent of households earned a monthly income of Rs. 1,059 in 2023-24. During the same period the richest 10 per cent earned Rs. 20,380. Both sections registered an 8 per cent increase from income in 2021-22.


  2. Between 2019-2024, the earning disparity between the richest and poorest households has remained consistent with the richest households earning 20 times more than the poorest households in India.

  3. PLFS data reveals that in 2021-2022, income in the poorest households grew by 14.52 per cent whereas the growth was merely 0.42 per cent in 2022-2023 . In comparison, income in the richest households grew by 8.57 per cent in 2021-22 and by 6.61 per cent in 2022-23.

  4. Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 reported that the per capita monthly consumption expenditure in the poorest households was Rs. 1,805. In comparison, the richest households registered Rs. 14,993 per capita monthly consumption expenditure during the same period. 

  5. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s Consumer Pyramid Household Survey (CMIE-CPHS) reported that in 2022-23, the poorest 10 per cent of all households earned an average of Rs. 849 per capita per month. In comparison, the richest 10 per cent earned 24 times more at Rs. 20,599 per capita per month. 

  6. The CMIE-CPHS reported a general trend of decline in household incomes between 2021-22 and 2022-23, with the richest households registering a 10 per cent decline while the poorest households have noted a decline by 18 per cent.

  7. Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) report collects the household consumption expenditure and PLFS also collects the same data. But in comparison HCES data  generally reports a higher monthly per capita consumption expenditure – this, the report states, might be attributed to a more detailed survey exercise by PLFS. 


    Focus and Factoids by Aditya Prem Kumar.

AUTHOR

Azim Premji University

COPYRIGHT

Azim Premji University

PUBLICATION DATE

2025

TAGS

#expenses #income-inequality #household-consumption-expenditure-survey

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