Consumer expenditure survey not to be released due to data quality issues: Government

NEW DELHI: The government(Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) in a release this evening said that Consumer Expenditure Survey 2017-18 findings will not be released this year because of “data quality issues”. The release comes hours after reports appeared that the consumer spending in rural areas had plummeted for the first time in more than four decades.

“In view of the data quality issues, the Ministry has decided not to release the Consumer Expenditure Survey results of 2017-2018. The Ministry is separately examining the feasibility of conducting the next Consumer Expenditure Survey in 2020-2021 and 2021-22 after incorporating all data quality refinements in the survey process,” the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said in a statement.

The NSS Consumer Expenditure Survey generates estimates of household monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) and the distribution of households and persons over the MPCE classes.

The release said that results of the survey were examined and it was noted that there was a significant increase in the divergence in not only the levels in the consumption pattern but also the direction of the change when compared to the other administrative data sources like the actual production of goods and services.

“Concerns were also raised about the ability/sensitivity of the survey instrument to capture consumption of social services by households especially on health and education,” it said.