Statistics ministry to conduct first-ever household income survey in 2026
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will conduct the first-ever Household Income Survey in 2026, with a Technical Expert Group (TEG) being set up to guide the ministry on the method of estimation and other aspects of the survey. In addition to measuring household income, the proposed survey will also try to assess the impact of adoption of technology on wages, the statistics ministry said on Monday.
The survey will be MoSPI's latest attempt to measure household income in India, with pilots conducted in the past not resulting in a nationwide survey due to difficulties in collecting reliable income data, the ministry said. These past attempts date back to the 1950s, when it tried to collect information on income as part of its consumer expenditure surveys on an experimental basis. Further attempts were made in the 1960s as part of the Integrated Household Survey.
'However, these efforts were not continued as it was found that the estimates of income were lower than the estimates of consumption and savings put together,' MoSPI said. In the 1980s, it was again explored if it was operationally feasible to collect household income data, but it did not lead to a national survey.
'Recently, NSS (National Sample Survey) has taken a number of initiatives to plug-in the data gaps in different spheres of social and economic interests… The household income survey is another important initiative of the Ministry to generate vital information for deriving income distribution and welfare thereof,' MoSPI said. It added that there was an 'urgent need' for a dedicated income distribution survey 'to better understand the profound structural changes that have occurred in the Indian economy over the past 75 years'.
According to MoSPI's latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, India's per capita gross national income in 2024-25 was Rs 2.31 lakh in current prices, up 8.7 per cent from 2023-24.
Surjit Bhalla-led expert group
The expert group constituted on Monday will be chaired by economist Surjit Bhalla, formerly India's Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund and a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. In addition to Bhalla and officials from MoSPI and other government ministries, the expert group comprises of Aloke Kar, former professor at Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Sonalde Desai of National Council of Applied Economic Research, Praveen Jha from Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Srijit Mishra from University of Hyderabad's School of Economics, National Stock Exchange of India Chief Economist Tirthankar Patnaik, People Research on India's Consumer Economy Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Shukla, and Ram Singh, Director of Delhi School of Economics and an external member of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee.
'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 TEG will also provide guidance for finalisation of the survey results and report for release,' MoSPI said.
MoSPI, over the last couple of years, has conducted a variety of surveys to shed light on different parts of the Indian economy in addition to the regular ones that are used to compile key macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, Consumer Price Index, and Index of Industrial Production. These include annual surveys on unincorporated enterprises, the service sector, a forward-looking survey on private sector capital expenditure, and domestic travel and tourism, among others.
Last month, the ministry released the result of its maiden monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which had so far been conducted only on a quarterly basis for urban areas and annually for rural areas. The revamped monthly PLFS also seeks details about households' usual monthly income from rent, pension, interest, and remittances. However, the findings related to these details have so far not been released.
Some of the key surveys whose results will be released over the next few months include the Annual Survey of Industries for 2023-24 and Household Social Consumption: Health.
Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy.
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