NSO's junked consumer expenditure survey shows inequality gap declining

Ratio of top and bottom 10% declined sharply to 5% in 2017-18 from 5.9% in 2011-12 in rural areas

Top income earners cut down sharply on their expenditure, dragging consumer spending down for the first time in India in over four decades, leading to a decrease in income inequality.

A class-wise analysis of the National Statistical Office’s (NSO’s) consumer expenditure survey showed the gap between the rich and the poor coming down in the six-year period till 2017-18.

The government on Friday termed the NSO’s survey report “Key Indicators: Household Consumer Expenditure in India” “draft” and said it had decided not to release it owing to “data quality” issues. This was after the findings of the survey report were