Himachal Pradesh’s per capita consumption more than neighbouring states

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, February 26

Himachal Pradesh is among the top five states in terms of the monthly per-capita consumption expenditure (MPCE). As per the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the MPCE in the state for the rural and urban sectors is Rs 5,561 and Rs 8,075, respectively.

As per the survey, the state has the fourth highest MPCE in rural areas and fifth highest in the urban areas compared to other states. The average national MPCE stands at Rs 3,773 and Rs 6,459 for the rural and urban areas, respectively. The states having higher MPCE than Himachal in rural sectors are Sikkim (Rs 7, 731), Goa (7,367) and Kerala (5,924). In the urban sectors, Sikkim (Rs 12,105), Goa (8,734), Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 8,636) and Telangana (Rs 8,158) have higher MPCE.

The survey records expenditure in three categories – food items, consumable and service items and durable goods. “These are very impressive figures for the state. It shows the people in the state are prosperous and have a better living standard than most other parts of the country,” said Vinod Rana, Economic Advisor, Department of Economics and Statistics. “The detailed report is yet to be released, which will give a detailed picture of the consumption expenditure,” he said.

Rana further said the state had higher MPCE than the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir too. “Besides, we have the second highest MPCE among the special category states. The only state ahead of us in this category is Sikkim,” Rana said.

Rana further said that Himachal had done well in the National Multidimensional Poverty Index report released by the NITI Aayog last year. As per the report, only 4.93 per cent of the total population is multi-dimensionally poor in the state.