Trends in Consumer Expenditure and Consumption Pattern of Milk – Insights from NSS Data

Abstract

The analyses of Consumer Expenditure Survey data of NSS reveal consistent increase in average monthly per capita expenditure (at constant prices) over last decade, albeit it grew significantly during recent times. In terms of disparity, the gap between poorest (lowest 20 per cent of population in terms of monthly per capita expenditure-MPCE) and richest (highest 20 per cent) is higher in milk and milk products as compared to egg, fish and meat, but still lower than the gap in non-food items. With the rise in per capita expenditure, the incidence of milk consumption increases sharply in the bottom two decile groups of MPCE classes. If the ratio of consumption in poorest to richest is considered as a measure of divergence, then it is found that on milk and milk products, poorest spends only 12 and 18 per cent of the amount spent by the richest in rural and urban areas, respectively. The States like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar show higher disparity in consumption of milk in comparison to national average. In the urban areas, a similar pattern is also noticed, but the degree of divergence between poorest and richest is on the lower side. In urban areas, 96 per cent of the population consumes milk from purchases, accounting for 89 per cent of total volume of milk consumption. The balance 11 per cent of consumption demand is met from home production of milk. The incidence of milk purchase in rural areas stands at 62 per cent and accounts for about 26 per cent of the total volume of milk consumed (i.e. 74 per cent of rural consumption demand is met out from home production of milk). While the southern States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have the largest proportion of consumption that is bought out, and therefore, offer scopes for exploring rural marketing of milk.