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Date : Dec 05, 2025
Rural Consumer Confidence Survey

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of November 2025 round of its bi-monthly Rural Consumer Confidence Survey (RCCS)1 2. The survey collects current perceptions (vis-à-vis a year ago) and one year ahead expectations of households on general economic situation, employment scenario, overall price situation, own income and spending from the households residing in the rural and semi-urban areas across all Indian states and three major UTs. The survey also collates information on households' current perception and their year ahead expectation on inflation. The latest round of the survey was conducted during November 1-10, 2025, covering 8,754 responses.

Highlights:

  1. Rural consumer confidence for the current period remained almost at the same level of the previous survey round. The Current Situation Index (CSI)3 remained range bound above the neutral line in the last three rounds (Chart 1; Table 9).

  2. The one-year-ahead outlook, as captured by the Future Expectations Index (FEI), showed further improvement within the optimistic zone (Chart 1; Table 9).

  3. The share of rural households anticipating decline in prices and inflation have increased for the current as well as year ahead in the latest survey round (Tables 3 and 4).

  4. Households’ current perception of inflation declined significantly by 130 bps to 4.6 per cent in current round of the survey. Moreover, their expectation for the year ahead also reduced by 150 bps to 6.1 per cent (Table 12).

Chart 1: Rural Consumer Confidence Indices

Note: Please see the excel file for time series data4

Summary based on Net Responses

Table 1: Perceptions and Expectations on the General Economic Situation
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Improved Remained Same Worsened Net Response Will Improve Will Remain Same Will Worsen Net Response
Nov-24 38.2 24.7 37.1 1.1 57.9 18.1 24.0 34.0
Jan-25 39.4 25.2 35.4 4.0 58.8 17.0 24.2 34.6
Mar-25 41.4 23.8 34.7 6.7 60.0 16.6 23.4 36.6
May-25 40.8 25.3 33.9 6.9 60.3 16.7 23.1 37.2
Jul-25 41.6 24.0 34.4 7.1 59.6 21.2 19.2 40.4
Sep-25 39.4 28.4 32.2 7.2 58.4 23.5 18.1 40.3
Nov-25 40.0 27.4 32.7 7.3 58.7 23.0 18.3 40.4

Table 2: Perceptions and Expectations on Employment
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Improved Remained Same Worsened Net Response Will Improve Will Remain Same Will Worsen Net Response
Nov-24 36.6 25.6 37.8 -1.2 58.4 19.4 22.2 36.1
Jan-25 38.4 25.8 35.8 2.6 58.9 19.0 22.1 36.8
Mar-25 39.6 24.9 35.4 4.2 59.8 18.8 21.5 38.3
May-25 39.9 25.0 35.2 4.7 59.9 18.7 21.4 38.5
Jul-25 38.0 28.8 33.3 4.7 57.6 24.7 17.7 39.9
Sep-25 36.0 33.1 30.9 5.0 57.0 26.2 16.7 40.3
Nov-25 36.5 31.6 31.8 4.7 57.3 25.9 16.7 40.6

Table 3: Perceptions and Expectations on Price Level
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Increased Remained Same Decreased Net Response Will Increase Will Remain Same Will Decrease Net Response
Nov-24 96.6 3.0 0.4 -96.3 90.0 5.0 5.0 -85.0
Jan-25 96.2 3.3 0.4 -95.8 90.0 5.0 5.1 -84.9
Mar-25 95.1 3.4 1.5 -93.6 88.7 5.4 5.9 -82.8
May-25 94.6 3.9 1.5 -93.1 88.5 4.9 6.6 -81.9
Jul-25 94.2 3.6 2.2 -92.0 88.5 3.9 7.7 -80.8
Sep-25 94.4 3.5 2.2 -92.2 83.9 11.5 4.6 -79.3
Nov-25 92.8 1.8 5.4 -87.4 82.6 11.6 5.9 -76.7

Table 4: Perceptions and Expectations on Rate of Change in Price Level (Inflation)*
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Increased Remained Same Decreased Net Response Will Increase Will Remain Same Will Decrease Net Response
Nov-24 82.3 14.2 3.5 -78.8 83.6 12.3 4.2 -79.4
Jan-25 80.4 16.5 3.1 -77.3 80.5 16.3 3.2 -77.2
Mar-25 78.3 17.4 4.3 -74.0 79.3 16.0 4.7 -74.6
May-25 77.6 17.8 4.6 -73.0 77.9 16.9 5.1 -72.8
Jul-25 77.4 16.9 5.8 -71.6 77.9 16.7 5.5 -72.3
Sep-25 76.9 17.9 5.2 -71.8 79.5 12.0 8.5 -71.0
Nov-25 76.9 11.5 11.6 -65.3 77.0 12.3 10.7 -66.3
Notes: *Applicable only for those respondents who felt price has increased/price will increase.

Table 5: Perceptions and Expectations on Income
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Increased Remained Same Decreased Net Response Will Increase Will Remain Same Will Decrease Net Response
Nov-24 24.2 43.3 32.5 -8.3 58.2 30.1 11.7 46.5
Jan-25 23.7 45.6 30.7 -7.0 58.4 30.1 11.5 47.0
Mar-25 24.7 45.3 29.9 -5.2 59.0 30.8 10.3 48.7
May-25 25.3 44.7 30.0 -4.8 59.7 29.9 10.4 49.3
Jul-25 23.7 49.4 26.8 -3.1 58.0 35.3 6.8 51.2
Sep-25 24.5 49.0 26.5 -2.1 56.3 38.8 4.9 51.4
Nov-25 24.1 49.7 26.3 -2.2 59.1 33.6 7.4 51.7

Table 6: Perceptions and Expectations on Spending
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Increased Remained Same Decreased Net Response Will Increase Will Remain Same Will Decrease Net Response
Nov-24 88.5 9.6 1.9 86.6 90.0 8.0 2.0 88.0
Jan-25 87.9 10.3 1.9 86.0 89.0 9.3 1.8 87.2
Mar-25 90.5 7.3 2.2 88.2 90.8 7.4 1.9 88.9
May-25 88.1 10.0 2.0 86.1 89.7 8.3 2.0 87.8
May-25 87.0 12.3 0.7 86.3 90.9 6.3 2.9 88.0
Sep-25 88.2 10.3 1.5 86.7 87.8 11.1 1.1 86.7
Nov-25 84.5 12.5 3.0 81.5 88.8 9.3 1.9 86.9

Table 7: Perceptions and Expectations on Spending- Essential Items
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Increased Remained Same Decreased Net Response Will Increase Will Remain Same Will Decrease Net Response
Nov-24 89.1 8.9 2.1 87.0 90.0 7.9 2.1 87.9
Jan-25 87.9 9.5 2.6 85.4 89.5 8.2 2.3 87.2
Mar-25 89.8 8.0 2.2 87.6 91.2 6.9 2.0 89.2
May-25 88.3 9.2 2.6 85.7 90.4 7.7 2.0 88.4
May-25 86.7 11.6 1.7 85.0 92.5 4.0 3.5 89.0
Sep-25 88.0 9.4 2.7 85.3 89.1 9.4 1.5 87.7
Nov-25 84.6 12.2 3.2 81.4 88.6 9.1 2.3 86.3

Table 8: Perceptions and Expectations on Spending- Non-Essential Items
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Increased Remained Same Decreased Net Response Will Increase Will Remain Same Will Decrease Net Response
Nov-24 57.3 18.5 24.2 33.2 68.1 19.1 12.8 55.4
Jan-25 57.3 19.7 23.1 34.2 68.1 19.6 12.4 55.7
Mar-25 58.4 19.1 22.5 35.9 69.6 18.2 12.3 57.3
May-25 58.3 18.6 23.1 35.2 69.3 18.4 12.3 56.9
Jul-25 54.7 27.9 17.4 37.2 73.6 10.1 16.4 57.2
Sep-25 53.0 31.4 15.7 37.3 68.3 21.0 10.8 57.5
Nov-25 53.8 27.8 18.4 35.5 69.6 18.6 11.7 57.9

Table 9: Rural Consumer Confidence Indices
Survey Round Current Situation Index (CSI) Future Expectations Index (FEI)
Nov-24 96.4 123.9
Jan-25 98.0 124.1
Mar-25 100.1 125.9
May-25 100.0 126.2
Jul-25 100.6 127.7
Sep-25 100.9 127.9
Nov-25 100.8 128.6

Table 10: Current Period Median Inflation Perception of the Various Groups
  May-25 Jul-25 Sep-25 Nov-25
Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE
Overall 6.3 0.17 6.3 0.17 5.9 0.13 4.6 0.12
Gender-wise                
Male 6.3 0.17 6.3 0.17 6.0 0.18 4.4 0.15
Female 6.4 0.27 6.4 0.27 5.9 0.19 4.8 0.15
Category-wise                
Salaried Employees 6.7 0.35 6.7 0.35 6.7 0.43 4.5 0.26
Self Employed 6.1 0.22 6.1 0.22 6.1 0.26 4.6 0.21
Homemakers 6.5 0.28 6.5 0.28 6.0 0.26 4.8 0.17
Retired Persons 6.2 0.50 6.2 0.50 6.0 0.65 4.9 0.37
Daily Workers 6.1 0.18 6.1 0.18 5.9 0.22 4.5 0.26
Others 6.4 0.23 6.4 0.23 5.7 0.2 4.6 0.24
Age Group-wise                
21 to 29 years 6.3 0.2 6.3 0.2 5.6 0.15 4.7 0.19
30 to 39 years 6.3 0.28 6.3 0.28 6.1 0.26 4.7 0.16
40 to 59 years 6.2 0.22 6.2 0.22 6.0 0.22 4.5 0.19
60 years and above 6.1 0.19 6.1 0.19 6.0 0.37 4.5 0.31

Table 11: One Year Ahead Median Inflation Expectations of Various Groups
  May-25 Jul-25 Sep-25 Nov-25
Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE
Overall 8.9 0.19 7.9 0.25 7.6 0.23 6.1 0.22
Gender-wise                
Male 8.9 0.24 8.0 0.37 7.7 0.26 6.0 0.26
Female 9.1 0.30 7.6 0.26 7.7 0.37 6.2 0.27
Category-wise                
Salaried Employees 9.5 0.32 7.6 0.35 8.8 0.40 6.3 0.42
Self Employed 8.6 0.38 7.9 0.42 7.6 0.42 5.9 0.34
Homemakers 9.0 0.30 7.9 0.3 7.7 0.38 6.1 0.27
Retired Persons 8.8 0.59 8.9 1.02 8.0 0.77 7.1 1.09
Daily Workers 8.5 0.34 7.1 0.36 7.4 0.40 6.0 0.39
Others 8.7 0.41 7.8 0.42 8.0 0.47 6.7 0.40
Age Group-wise                
21 to 29 years 8.8 0.22 7.6 0.34 7.7 0.39 6.3 0.32
30 to 39 years 9.2 0.28 7.5 0.34 7.7 0.41 6.1 0.30
40 to 59 years 8.6 0.30 8.0 0.41 7.7 0.33 6.3 0.31
60 years and above 8.3 0.31 8.2 0.67 7.3 0.47 5.6 0.32

Table 12: Household Inflation Expectations – Current Perception and One Year Ahead Expectations
 Survey Round Current Perception One Year ahead Expectation
Median Median
Estimate SE Estimate SE
Nov-24 7.1 0.19 9.7 0.23
Jan-25 7.0 0.19 9.6 0.24
Mar-25 6.6 0.23 9.3 0.23
May-25 6.3 0.17 8.9 0.19
Jul-25 5.8 0.08 7.9 0.25
Sep-25 5.9 0.13 7.6 0.23
Nov-25 4.6 0.12 6.1 0.22
Notes: The table provides estimates and standard errors (SE) for quantitative responses.

Table 13: Cross-tabulation of Number of Respondents by Current Inflation Perception and One Year Ahead Inflation Expectations: Nov-25
One Year Ahead Inflation Rate (per cent)
Current Inflation Rate (per cent)   <1 1-<2 2-<3 3-<4 4-<5 5-<6 6-<7 7-<8 8-<9 9-<10 10-<11 11-<12 12-<13 13-<14 14-<15 15-<16 >=16 No idea Total
<1 594 107 89 50 53 36 5 1 3 7 19 2 - 1 2 5 - - 974
1-<2 74 25 245 79 21 17 - 5 8 11 2 - - - - - 30 - 517
2-<3 97 58 74 347 154 99 20 6 6 1 68 35 23 9 38 40 54 - 1129
3-<4 68 15 32 73 307 178 121 90 68 47 84 23 9 2 3 5 70 - 1195
4-<5 96 17 36 48 102 241 122 75 76 92 30 4 2 4 7 6 79 - 1037
5-<6 204 14 31 23 68 139 150 118 84 57 170 13 2 1 2 5 22 - 1103
6-<7 62 2 6 5 6 20 67 80 74 43 64 9 14 4 4 4 1 - 465
7-<8 39 - 6 5 6 13 6 66 62 58 68 13 5 1 13 3 3 - 367
8-<9 27 5 3 2 5 4 1 13 55 38 65 18 29 5 12 8 6 - 296
9-<10 64 3 5 3 10 11 3 1 34 89 51 15 7 6 11 7 8 - 328
10-<11 104 1 6 5 7 30 2 5 10 36 103 64 57 24 26 128 100 8 716
11-<12 8 - - 1 1 1 - 1 - - 1 17 7 5 7 14 9 2 74
12-<13 12 - - - - - 1 - - - 3 3 11 5 7 16 8 1 67
13-<14 3 - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 - 4 2 2 13
14-<15 8 - 2 - - 1 - 1 - 3 2 1 - 2 15 19 13 3 70
15-<16 24 - 1 - 1 4 - 1 - 1 6 - - 1 3 39 82 12 175
>=16 106 3 5 - - 7 1 2 - 5 23 - - - 1 9 66 - 228
Total 1590 250 541 641 741 801 499 465 480 488 759 217 167 71 151 312 553 28 8754

1 The rural consumer confidence survey covers both rural and semi-urban areas.

2 The survey results reflect the respondents’ views, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank. Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on October 01, 2025.

3 CSI and FEI are compiled with the net responses on five survey parameters viz., general economic situation, employment, income, price level and spending, for the current period (as compared with one year ago) and a year ahead, respectively. CSI and FEI = 100 + Average of Net Responses of the above parameters.

4 Unit-level data for previous rounds of the survey are available on the Bank’s ‘Database on Indian Economy’ (DBIE) portal (weblink: https://data.rbi.org.in/DBIE/#/dbie/home) under the head ‘Unit-level Data’.

5 ‘Net response’ is the difference between the percentage of respondents reporting optimism and those reporting pessimisms. It ranges between -100 and 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and values less than zero indicate contraction/ pessimism.