NSO to launch household income survey from Feb 2026: Statistics minister

The survey aims to estimate average household income across India and may help provide a clearer picture of poverty, inequality and income disparity across rural and urban areas

In an ambitious move, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is set to launch the Household Income Survey (HIS) starting February next year. The survey will be used to calculate the average income of rural and urban households, Statistics Minister Rao Inderjit Singh told Business Standard. 

“Household Income Survey has also been planned for launching by the ministry from February 2026 for the purpose of estimating average income of rural and urban households,” said Singh. 

The upcoming survey by the National Statistics Office (NSO) marks renewed efforts at collecting data on household income in India. 

It is expected to provide a better picture of living standards, poverty incidence, income and wealth disparities, and consumer behaviour in the country compared to the currently used Household Consumption Expenditure Surveys. 

“The proposed survey will not replace the Consumption Expenditure Survey. The income survey is difficult, but the committee is working and learning the methodology that has been adopted by some other countries. Getting information from households will be a challenge, but the committee is examining all the aspects. It will see all the technical issues as well as field issues that arise during the course,” said an official. 

Rajesh Shukla, chief executive officer (CEO), People Research on India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE), said there is a great dearth of reliable longitudinal data on household income in India. This is due to previous difficulties in collecting reliable income data in the field, such as seasonality effects, lack of records from employer households, ambiguities in the choice of sampling units, and hidden income through wages paid in kind, among others. 

“For these reasons, the NSO perhaps refrained from collecting data on household income. Greater emphasis was, therefore, placed on Household Expenditure Surveys. It's a welcome move to kickstart the process as earlier attempts couldn't bear the desired fruit,” he added. 

 

The NSO, in the past, made efforts to collect information on household income in its ninth (1955) and 15th (1959) rounds. However, the data collected on household incomes was not published in the NSO reports.

 

Later, it undertook the collection of data on receipts and disbursements as part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) in its 19th (1964) and 24th (1969) rounds (July 1969–June 1970). However, it was found that the estimates of income from these surveys were lower than the estimates of consumption and savings put together. In 1983–84, the NSS once again attempted a pilot enquiry on household income to explore the possibility of evolving an operationally feasible method for collecting such data; however, this too could not transform into an all-India survey.

 

Former Chief Statistician Pronab Sen said one of the main shortcomings of earlier surveys was their inability to tap into the multiple sources of income that people have in India. For example, people in rural areas report at least three occupations, while those in urban areas report at least two. Moreover, there is income from additional sources like rent and investment, among others.

 

“The government has failed spectacularly in its attempts to generate income data, and the consensus is that this data is too tough to collect. This is because people themselves don't want to reveal their incomes, and non-responsiveness is quite high,” said Sen.

 

The Situation Assessment Survey of Farmer Households (SAS)—in the 59th round (2003)—was the last effort at collecting income data by the NSO. However, it was limited to farmer households, which do not represent all households dependent on agriculture. Despite its many drawbacks, SAS remains the single largest data source on rural household incomes in India.

 

“If we are able to gather income data, we could have a better picture of poverty incidence and wealth inequality in the country, as they are supposed to be based on income data and not consumption data. Since upper income deciles don't consume all of their income, the disparity among groups is underestimated when we use expenditure surveys,” added Sen.

 

In a statement on Monday, MoSPI said it has constituted a Technical Expert Group (TEG) under the chairmanship of Surjit S Bhalla, former executive director for India, International Monetary Fund. Other members of the group include Aloke Kar, former professor, Indian Statistical Institute; Sonalde Desai, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER); Praveen Jha, professor, JNU; Srijit Mishra; Tirthankar Patnaik, chief economist, National Stock Exchange of India; Rajesh Shukla, managing director, PRICE; and Ram Singh, director, Delhi School of Economics.

 

"The Expert Group will provide guidance with regard to finalisation of concepts and definitions, preparation of the survey method and instruments, sampling design and method of estimation, and incorporate best country practices as adopted across the world. The survey will also strive to assess the impact of adoption of technology on household income (wages)," the statement said. 

Welfare monitoring

 

The survey to be used to calculate rural and urban households’ average income

 

Committee working and learning methodology adopted by some other countries

 

The proposed survey to not replace the consumption expenditure survey, said an official

 

Difficulties in collecting reliable income data in the field

 

Inability to tap into multiple sources of income main shortcomings of earlier surveys, according to Pronab Sen, former chief statistician