More than half of India’s rural households didn’t report any increase in their income in the last year, according to the “Rural Economic Conditions & Sentiments Survey”, the bi-monthly survey of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). One-fifth of the surveyed households reported decrease in income in the last year.
The Survey indicates stagnating rural income, even though cost of living has been consistently going up.
NABARD has been conducting this survey since September 2024. This Survey captures both economic conditions in the preceding period and also households’ economic sentiment.
According to the Survey, conducted during last week of June 2026 and the first week of July 2026 coinciding with the first month of the monsoon and sowing, nearly 53 per cent of households reported no change in their income in the preceding year; around 20 per cent reported decrease in income while around 28 per cent said an increase in income.
“The proportion of rural households reporting an increase in income during last year has exhibited a consistent decline since the November 2025 round, reaching 27.7 per cent in July 2026—the lowest level recorded since the inception of the survey,” says the Survey
It means nearly three-fourths of households didn’t see any increase in income, rather reported decline. The proportion of households reporting no change in income is on a steep ascent since the January 2026 survey. In the January survey of NABARD, around 43 per cent households reported “no change” in income. At 53 per cent in July, this is a 10-percentage increase.
This, when read in conjunction with consumption expenditure, points towards a severe cost-of-living crisis. This is because as the Survey says, “household consumption expenditure continued to account for a substantial share of monthly income, with around two-thirds of monthly household income being devoted to consumption expenditure.”
Further, households overwhelmingly reported an increase in consumption. Around 74 per cent households said consumption has increased in the July survey. “Reflecting moderation in consumption, the proportion of respondents reporting an elevation in consumption expenditure declined to 74.1 per cent, marking only the second instance since the commencement of the survey that this proportion has fallen below 75 per cent,” says the Survey.
During the Survey period, another source of rural income support also recorded a decline. “In the July 2026 round of the survey, the mean share of government subsidies and transfers in monthly household income stood at 8.11 per cent, which is a marginal increase from 8.04 per cent in May 2026,” the Survey says adding, “This share remained substantially below the peak of 10.28 per cent observed in January 2025.” NABARD attributes this to “better targeting of beneficiaries and reduced leakages.”
Rural households are hopeful of better economic prospects for the next quarter. But when surveyed on for the next one year, the assessment says, “One-year ahead income expectations weakened further, recording their lowest expectation since the inception of the survey. The softening of sentiment may be associated with prevailing uncertainties relating to monsoon conditions and broader economic developments.”