Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-2024
India, 2023 - 2024
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IND_2023_HCES_v01_M
Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-2024
HCES 2023-24
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| India | IND |
Income/Expenditure/Household Survey [hh/ies]
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has been conducting household surveys on consumption expenditure at regular intervals as part of its rounds, normally of one-year duration. The data on household consumption expenditure were collected in every round up to the 28th (1973-74) from the first round (1950-51) of the National Sample Survey (NSS). After the 26th round of the survey, the then Governing Council of NSSO decided to conduct the surveys on consumption expenditure and employment-unemployment together on a large scale, once in every five years. From the 42nd round (1986-87), on the basis of the recommendation of the Governing Council, NSS had started annual surveys of consumption expenditure in a smallerscale with an abridged version of the schedule and thin sample. This annual series was continued till NSS 64th round (2007-08). The quinquennial surveys were conducted and results were published in the 27th (1972-73), 32nd (1977-78), 38th (1983), 43rd (1987-88), 50th (1993-94), 55th (1999-‘00), 61st (2004-05), 66th (2009-10) and 68th (2011- 12) rounds of NSS, at roughly 5-year intervals.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) decided to conduct two consecutive surveys on household consumption expenditure during 2022-23 and 2023-24, once situation normalized after the Covid-19 pandemic. The first survey was conducted during the period August 2022 to July 2023 and the second survey was conducted during August 2023 to July 2024 throughout the entire country.
The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) is designed to collect information on consumption of goods and services by the households. Information collected in HCES is used for analyzing and understanding the consumption and expenditure pattern, standard of living and well-being of the households. Besides, the data of the survey provides budget shares of different commodity groups that is used for preparation of the weighting diagram for compilation of official Consumer Price Indices (CPIs). The data collected in HCES is also utilized for deriving various other macroeconomic indicators.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Households and Individuals
Scope
The survey covered the following topics:
- Identification of sample household and household size
- Household demographics characteristics
- Household characteristics
- Food items - general information on purchase/payment
- Consumption of cereals, pulses, sugar and salt during the last 30 days
- Consumption of milk & milk products, vegetables, fruits, egg, fish & meat, edible oil, spices, beverages during the last 7 days
- Consumption of processed food during the last 7 days
- Consumables and services - general information on purchase/payment
- Consumption of energy (fuel, light) during the last 30 days
- Expenditure on toilet articles and other household consumables during the last 30 days
- Expenditure on education and medical (hospitalisation) during the last 365 days and on medical (non-hospitalisation) during the last 30 days
- Expenditure on conveyance, consumer services (excluding conveyance), entertainment, rent and taxes during the last 30 days
- Consumption of pan, tobacco and intoxicants during the last 7 days
- Durable items - general information on purchase/payment
- Expenditure for clothing, footwear and bedding during the last 365 days
- Expenditure for purchase and construction (including repair and maintenance) of durable goods for domestic use during the last 365 days
Coverage
8,684 FSUs in the rural areas and 6,143 in the urban areas have been surveyed in HCES:2023-24. The total sample size of 14,827FSUs has been allocated to State/UTs in proportion to Census 2011 population, subject to a minimum allocation of 40 FSUs.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| National Statistics Office of India | Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation |
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Computer Centre, National Statistics Office of India | Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation |
| Name |
|---|
| Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation |
Sampling
The most recent Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), previously known as the Household Consumer Expenditure Survey, was conducted from August 2023 to July 2024. Data was collected from each selected household using three separate questionnaires—FDQ (Food Items), CSQ (Consumables & Services), and DGQ (Durable Items)—administered during three distinct monthly visits within a quarter. In addition, a separate questionnaire, HCQ, was used to gather information on household characteristics.
The HCES 2023–24 employed a multi-stage stratified sampling design. The First Stage Units (FSUs) were villages or urban blocks (or their sub-units), and the Ultimate Stage Units (USUs) were the households. Both FSUs and USUs were selected using Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement (SRSWOR). Within each FSU, 18 sample households were surveyed.
The survey period was divided into 10 panels, each spanning three months. In the first month of each panel, the HCQ questionnaire and one of the three main questionnaires (FDQ, CSQ, or DGQ) were administered to the selected households. The remaining two questionnaires were administered in the second and third months, respectively. The order of administering the FDQ, CSQ, and DGQ was randomized for each FSU to avoid sequencing bias. All six possible permutations of the three questionnaires—(FDQ, CSQ, DGQ), (FDQ, DGQ, CSQ), (CSQ, FDQ, DGQ), (CSQ, DGQ, FDQ), (DGQ, FDQ, CSQ), and (DGQ, CSQ, FDQ)—were used across the sample households.
For the urban sector, the sampling frame consisted of Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks from the latest UFS. For the rural sector, it comprised villages listed in the 2011 Census, excluding those reclassified as urban in the latest UFS at the time of sample selection. To maintain uniformity in FSU size and facilitate operational convenience, large villages or UFS blocks were sometimes subdivided into smaller, roughly equal units—referred to as sub-units—based on predefined criteria, such as population size or the number of households.
Survey instrument
In the HCES 2023–24, the consumption basket was categorized into three broad groups: (i) Food items, (ii) Consumables and Services, and (iii) Durable Goods. Based on this classification, three separate questionnaires were developed: the Food Questionnaire (FDQ), the Consumables and Services Questionnaire (CSQ), and the Durable Goods Questionnaire (DGQ). These were administered to selected households across three consecutive monthly visits, with each visit focusing on a different category.
Additionally, a separate Household Characteristics Questionnaire (HCQ) was used to collect demographic and other background information about the household members.
To minimize any potential bias from the order of questionnaire administration, the survey employed all six possible sequences of the three main questionnaires:
(FDQ, CSQ, DGQ)
(FDQ, DGQ, CSQ)
(CSQ, FDQ, DGQ)
(CSQ, DGQ, FDQ)
(DGQ, FDQ, CSQ)
(DGQ, CSQ, FDQ)
This approach ensured that no particular sequencing influenced the results.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2023-08 | 2024-07 |
- Face-to-face [f2f]
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Metadata production
DDI_IND_2023_HCES_v01_M
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Centre, National Statistics Office of India | Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation | Documentation of the survey | |
| Development Data Group | DECDG | The World Bank | Metadata adapted for World Bank Microdata Library |
2025-06-03
Metadata version
Identical to a metadata (DDI-IND-MOSPI-NSS-HCES23-24) published on National Statistics Office of India microdata repository (https://microdata.gov.in/NADA/index.php/catalog). Some of the metadata fields have been edited.