Household finance

Household money

What households consume and save, how they borrow, where they send money abroad and the life cover they buy.

Credit data through March 2026

Food took 47.0% of rural spending and 39.7% of urban spending in 2023-24

Average monthly per-capita consumption was ₹4,122 ($43.2) in rural India and ₹6,996 ($73.3) in urban India.

Rural consumption spent on food47.0%

2023-24

What households spend on

Category	Rural share	Urban share
Cereals	5.0%	3.8%
Pulses	2.0%	1.4%
Sugar And Salt	0.9%	0.6%
Milk And Milk Products	8.4%	7.2%
Vegetables	6.0%	4.1%
Fruits	3.9%	3.9%
Egg, Fish And Meat	4.9%	3.6%
Edible Oil	2.8%	1.8%
Spices	3.3%	2.3%
Beverages And Processed Food	9.8%	11.1%
Pan, Tobacco And Intoxicants	3.8%	2.4%
Fuel And Light	6.1%	5.6%
Education	3.2%	6.0%
Medical	6.8%	5.8%
Conveyance	7.6%	8.5%
Consumer Services	5.3%	5.7%
Miscellaneous Goods And Entertainment	6.2%	6.9%
Rent	0.6%	6.6%
Taxes And Cesses	0.2%	0.3%
Clothing And Footwear	6.6%	5.7%
Durable Goods	6.5%	6.9%

Data source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Household Consumption Expenditure Survey. Monthly per-capita expenditure uses the Modified Mixed Reference Period. Survey estimates include home-produced consumption where specified in the report.

Urban households spent 70% more per person than rural households in 2023-24

The gap was 84% in 2011-12. These are nominal monthly figures, so their growth over time is not a measure of inflation-adjusted living standards.

Monthly consumption per person₹4,122$43.2

2023-24

Top 10% share of consumption20.7%24.6% in 2011-12

Rural India

Highest-spending 5%₹1,088$11.4 per person each month

2023-24

Fastest growth among major statesTamil Nadu10.7% a year, nominal

2011-12 to 2023-24

Data source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Household Consumption Expenditure Survey reports for 2011-12 and 2023-24. Comparisons use the Modified Mixed Reference Period. State growth is nominal and excludes states whose borders changed between the two surveys.

Households added ₹19.94 trillion ($209 billion) in net financial savings in 2024-25

Net savings are financial assets acquired less new financial liabilities. Quarterly flows can be negative for individual instruments even when the annual total is positive.

Net savings₹6.74 trillion$70.7 billion

March 2025

Data source: Reserve Bank of India, Flow of Financial Assets and Liabilities of Households. The latest year is preliminary and earlier observations may be revised.

Urban and rural confidence both weakened in July 2026

The RBI’s current-situation index fell to 88.3 in cities and 91.7 in rural and semi-urban India. A reading below 100 means pessimistic responses outnumber optimistic ones.

Urban current-situation index88.3

July 2026

Urban, latest round -2.4 pointsRural, latest round -3.5 points

Data source: Reserve Bank of India urban and rural consumer confidence surveys. The urban series begins earlier; the rural series starts in September 2023 and its geographic coverage expanded in July 2024.

The consumer credit market is strengthening

The Credit Market Indicator combines demand, supply, consumer behaviour and repayment performance into one reading, where higher is stronger.

Credit Market Indicator104

March 2026

1y +7 pointsOriginations, 1y +40%

Latest reading104

97 in March 2025

40%growth in retail credit origination value from a year earlier

Gold loans recorded the fastest annual balance growth in the latest CRIF release, at 50.4%.

Data source: TransUnion CIBIL Credit Market Indicator. Each report is read from TransUnion CIBIL’s official release.

Retail credit reached ₹170.2 trillion ($1.78 trillion)

The total includes consumption loans and sole-proprietor borrowing. Every product row below is a subset of the total.

Outstanding balances

₹ and USD

All retail loans₹170.2 trillion$1.78 trillion

+4.6% qoq+16.6% yoy

Consumption loans₹118.6 trillion$1.24 trillion

+4.5% qoq+15.3% yoy

Gold loans₹18.6 trillion$195 billion

+15% qoq+50.4% yoy

Home loans₹44.4 trillion$465 billion

+3.4% qoq+9.4% yoy

Personal loans₹16.5 trillion$173 billion

+3.7% qoq+12.9% yoy

Data source: CRIF High Mark, How India Lends. Values are bureau-reported portfolio outstanding. Quarterly and annual comparisons are taken directly from the published report.

Private-sector credit reached 102.3% of GDP in India, against 140.3% in the US

The Bank for International Settlements measures credit to businesses and households from banks and other lenders. The comparison is adjusted for breaks and uses the same definition for both countries.

India, all lenders102.3%

2025 Q4

India, all lenders 102.3%India, banks 62.5%US, all lenders 140.3%

Data source: Bank for International Settlements, total credit statistics. Figures are quarter-end private non-financial sector credit as a share of annualised GDP. All-lender credit includes domestic banks, other financial institutions and foreign lenders.

Non-food bank credit grew 18.3%, against 9.3% a year earlier

Non-food bank credit is the RBI’s headline lending measure excluding food-procurement credit. The table separates household borrowing from credit to agriculture, industry and services.

Non-food bank credit growth18.3%

June 2026

Credit growth by sector

Sector	Now	A year earlier	Change
Non-food credit	18.3%	9.3%	+9 points
Agriculture	16.8%	6.8%	+10 points
Industry	19.2%	6.3%	+12.9 points
Services	21.4%	8.8%	+12.6 points
Personal loans	15.8%	11.7%	+4.1 points

Data source: Reserve Bank of India, Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit. RBI reports industry credit growth at 19.2% year on year, against 6.3% in the same month a year earlier.

Gold-backed loans grew 69.3%, the fastest pace in non-bank credit in June 2026

Non-bank financial companies, or NBFCs, reported ₹59.31 trillion ($621 billion) in total credit. Loans against gold accounted for ₹3.41 trillion ($35.8 billion).

Annual credit growth by sector

01Loans against gold+69.3%

02Consumer durables+46.8%

03Retail loans+20.3%

04Agriculture+17.9%

05Services+17.6%

06Vehicle loans+15.2%

07Housing loans+11.4%

08Industry+6.7%

Credit outstanding

Sector	Outstanding	1y
Agriculture	₹796.84 billion$8.35 billion	+17.9%
Industry	₹22.04 trillion$231 billion	+6.7%
Services	₹7.7 trillion$80.7 billion	+17.6%
Retail loans	₹25.62 trillion$268 billion	+20.3%
Housing loans	₹8.44 trillion$88.4 billion	+11.4%
Vehicle loans	₹6.24 trillion$65.4 billion	+15.2%
Loans against gold	₹3.41 trillion$35.8 billion	+69.3%
Consumer durables	₹722.01 billion$7.57 billion	+46.8%

Data source: Reserve Bank of India, sectoral deployment of credit by upper- and middle-layer non-bank financial companies and housing finance companies. RBI describes the provisional sample as covering about 87% of sector credit.

Bank credit is growing 17.7% year on year

Credit growth, the credit-deposit ratio and banks’ government-security holdings come from the same RBI balance-sheet release.

Bank creditYear-on-year growth

17.7%

Bank balance sheetsCredit-deposit ratio and government bonds

Percent · ₹ and USD

Credit-deposit ratioG-sec investments

Data source: RBI Weekly Statistical Supplement. Dates on the chart are RBI observation dates. The bulletin carrying them appears later.

How Indians send money abroad

The Liberalised Remittance Scheme is the window that lets resident individuals send up to $250,000 abroad in a financial year for permitted transactions. Travel includes business, education, medical, pilgrimage and other travel reported by authorised dealers.

Outward remittances$2.4 billion

May 2026

1m +4.8%1y +3.6%

Where outward remittances went

Purpose	Value	1m	1y
Travel	$1.28 billion	+10.8%	−7.7%
Investments	$364 million	+52.4%	+246.5%
Family maintenance	$289 million	−12.1%	−10.4%
Gifts	$202 million	−25.5%	−13.6%
Deposits	$118 million	+24.6%	+116.1%
Studies abroad	$92.6 million	−31.3%	−38.2%
Property	$35.8 million	−27.3%	−14.2%
Medical treatment	$4.92 million	+46%	−26.8%

Data source: Reserve Bank of India Bulletin, Outward Remittances under LRS for Resident Individuals. Values are US dollars as published by RBI.

New life insurance business

First-year premium counts only the policies written during the month.

First-year premium₹464.91 billion$4.87 billion

June 2026

1m +45.1%1y +13.1%

Policies written2.15 million

June 2026

1m +28.8%1y +7.3%

Largest life insurers by new premium

Insurer	Premium	1y	Policies
Life Insurance Corporation of India	₹277.25 billion$2.9 billion	+1.2%	1.31 million
HDFC Life	₹33.24 billion$348 million	+31.7%	118,576
SBI Life	₹31.96 billion$335 million	+22%	175,158
ICICI Prudential Life	₹19.67 billion$206 million	+25.1%	52,786
Bajaj Life	₹15.04 billion$158 million	+76.6%	58,770
Axis Max Life	₹13.13 billion$138 million	+21.1%	85,448
Aditya Birla Sun Life	₹12.43 billion$130 million	+66.1%	35,682
Star Union Dai-ichi Life	₹11.83 billion$124 million	+146%	17,376
Tata AIA Life	₹11.57 billion$121 million	+24.5%	107,081
Kotak Mahindra Life	₹8.66 billion$90.7 million	+58.3%	22,357

Data source: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. Premium figures are net only of free-look cancellations, as reported by insurers.

Life insurance premiums equalled 2.7% of India's economy in 2024-25

Life insurers collected ₹8.86 trillion ($92.8 billion) during the year. New business and premiums on existing policies are kept separate.

Total life-insurance premium₹8.86 trillion$92.8 billion

2024-25

Life premiums / GDP 2.7%Life premium / person $72Non-life premiums ₹3.12 trillion

All coverage580.65 million

2024-25

Retail policies 60.15 millionAll coverage 580.65 million

Insurance across markets2024

Premiums / GDP and per person

India

Life / GDP: 2.7%
Life / person: $72
Non-life / GDP: 1.0%
Non-life / person: $25

US

Life / GDP: 2.7%
Life / person: $2,300
Non-life / GDP: 9.4%
Non-life / person: $8,000

China

Life / GDP: 2.4%
Life / person: $313
Non-life / GDP: 1.9%
Non-life / person: $245

World

Life / GDP: 3.0%
Life / person: $388
Non-life / GDP: 4.3%
Non-life / person: $555

Data source: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Handbook on Indian Insurance Statistics. IRDAI’s international comparison uses Swiss Re Sigma. A covered life is a policy record and is not necessarily a unique person.

Quick answers

Questions this page answers

How does the newest official release describe outward remittances from India?

The newest verified data show that resident individuals sent $2.4 billion abroad under RBI’s liberalised remittance scheme in May 2026.

How does the newest official release describe urban consumer confidence?

The newest verified data show that the RBI’s urban current-situation index was 88.3 in July 2026; a reading below 100 means pessimistic responses outnumber optimistic ones.

How does the newest official release describe gold-backed non-bank credit?

The newest verified data show that gold-backed credit from non-bank financial companies grew 69.3% from a year earlier in June 2026.