News: The eighth round of RECSS shows strong revival in rural demand, rising incomes and improved household well-being over the past year.
About Rural Economic Conditions and Sentiments Survey (RECSS)
- RECSS captures a mix of quantitative economic indicators (income, consumption, savings/borrowings, investment) and qualitative/subjective parameters reflecting household sentiments of rural population, like expectations of future income, employment, inflation, etc.
- Conducted by: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)
- Origin: The survey has been conducted since September 2024.
- Frequency: It is a high-frequency, bi-monthly assessment, making it a useful tool for near-real-time assessment of rural economic conditions.
- Aim: It assesses backward-looking economic conditions and forward-looking household sentiments to understand rural economic shifts.
- Latest survey: The eighth round of the survey (Sept 2024 – Nov 2025) was conducted after the GST rate rationalization announced on 3 September 2025.
Key Findings of the 8th RECSS (Sept 2024 – Nov 2025)
- Consumption boom: A large share (about 80%) of households reported higher consumption, and around 67.3% income is spent on consumption, showing broad-based demand.
- Income growth: 42.2% of households saw income growth, only 15.7% reported decline, and 75.9% expect incomes to rise next year.
- Higher investment: 29.3% of households increased capital investment, the highest among any previous rounds, driven by higher consumption and incomes, not credit stress.
- Formal credit access: 58.3% of households used only formal credit, up from 48.7% in September 2024; informal credit forms about 20%.
- Transfers and demand: Welfare transfers add about 10% to average monthly income and cross 20% for some households, supporting essential consumption.
- Lower inflation perception: Perceived inflation declined ( to 3.77%) ,and 84.2% households expect inflation to remain low, improving real income and welfare.
- Repayment and investment conditions: The income share used for loan repayment has declined, while 29.3% of households increased capital investment.
- Infrastructure and services: Households report high satisfaction with roads, education and electricity, followed by drinking water and health services.
