Health and medical travel is the most expensive category of domestic travel in India, with an average expenditure of Rs 32,167 per trip, according to a government survey.
Average expenditure on health-related trips is Rs 29,454 in rural areas and Rs 41,649 in urban areas.
Medical travel accounts for 38.4% of overnight trips in rural India, more than double the 16.5% recorded in urban areas.
Rural households undertake more than twice as many overnight medical trips per 100 households as urban households, highlighting disparities in healthcare access.
People aged 60 and above account for 32.3% of overnight health and medical trips, while hired vehicles are the most commonly used mode of transport.
Average expenditure on health-related travel is Rs 29,454 in rural India and Rs 41,649 in urban areas, according to the National Statistical Office
Travelling for medical treatment is more expensive than any other category of domestic travel in India, with an average expenditure of Rs 32,167 per trip, according to a new government survey. These expenses do not include the cost of the treatment itself.
The National Statistical Office's (NSO) 80th round report, Domestic Tourism in India, released on September 23, 2026, found that health and medical travel accounted for the highest average expenditure among trips undertaken over a 365-day period.
The average expenditure on health-related travel was Rs 29,454 in rural areas and Rs 41,649 in urban areas. Shopping-related travel was the second most expensive category, with an average expenditure of Rs 18,981 per trip.
The findings highlight the financial burden associated with travelling for medical care, particularly for people who must leave their villages, towns or home states to seek treatment.
The survey, conducted between July 2025 and June 2026, covered 142,603 rural households and 103,510 urban households across India.
It examined the frequency, purpose and expenditure of domestic travel, including overnight trips, trips lasting more than 30 days and same-day journeys. It also assessed how much households spent and the categories of expenditure involved.
The survey found that health-related overnight travel was considerably more frequent among rural households than urban households.
In rural areas, there were 127 overnight trips per 100 households annually across four categories: leisure and recreation, pilgrimage and religious activities, health and medical purposes, and shopping.
Of these, 49 trips were undertaken for health and medical reasons, compared with 22 in urban areas — more than twice as many.
Pilgrimage and religious activities accounted for 62 trips per 100 rural households, followed by leisure and recreation at 16 trips and shopping at one trip.
In urban areas, there were 132 overnight trips per 100 households annually across the four categories. Pilgrimage and religious activities accounted for 61 trips, followed by leisure and recreation at 48, health and medical purposes at 22, and shopping at one.
The disparity in medical travel between rural and urban areas raises questions about access to healthcare services, particularly in rural India, where patients may need to travel to larger towns or cities for treatment.
However, the survey figures alone do not establish whether these journeys were driven by inadequate local healthcare facilities, patient preferences or the need for specialised treatment.
Health and medical purposes accounted for approximately 30 per cent of overnight trips across rural and urban India, according to the survey.
Pilgrimage and religious activities accounted for the largest share, at approximately 48 per cent.
The proportion of overnight trips undertaken for medical reasons was substantially higher in rural areas, at 38.4 per cent, compared with 16.5 per cent in urban areas.
The figures indicate that medical travel constitutes a significant share of overnight journeys in rural India, even though average expenditure per trip is higher among urban residents.
Hired vehicles were the most commonly used mode of transport for overnight health and medical trips in both rural and urban areas.
In rural India, 46.7 per cent of such journeys were made using hired vehicles, followed by buses at 26.5 per cent, private vehicles at 17.3 per cent, trains at 7.2 per cent and air travel at 0.2 per cent.
In urban areas, hired vehicles accounted for 39.8 per cent of medical trips, followed by private vehicles at 23.9 per cent, buses at 20.9 per cent, trains at 12.7 per cent and air travel at 1.3 per cent.
The findings suggest that road transport plays a central role in accessing medical services, particularly for rural households.
The survey also found that people aged 60 and above accounted for 32.3 per cent of overnight health and medical trips during the year.
This indicates that older people account for a substantial proportion of medical travel, although the survey figures cited do not establish the types of treatment sought or the distances travelled.