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Date : Oct 01, 2025
Rural Consumer Confidence Survey

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of September 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 August 28 to September 07, 2025, covering 8,848 responses.

Highlights:

  1. Rural consumer confidence for the current period has improved marginally with the Current Situation Index (CSI)3 advancing further into the optimistic zone, supported by improved sentiments in most of the survey parameters (Chart 1; Tables 1, 2, 5, 6 and 9).

  2. The Future Expectations Index (FEI) continued to improve within the optimistic zone (Chart 1; Tables 9).

  3. The share of rural households expecting rise in prices and inflation over one year horizon has declined in the current round of survey (Tables 3 and 4).

  4. Households’ current perception of inflation inched up by 10 bps to 5.9 per cent in September 2025 as compared to the previous round. However, one year ahead inflation expectation moderated by 30 bps to 7.6 per cent in the latest survey (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
Improve Remained same Worsened Net Response Improve Remains same Worsen Net Response
Sep-24 39.9 25.4 34.8 5.1 57.2 19.2 23.6 33.6
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

Table 2: Perceptions and Expectations on Employment
(Percentage responses)
Survey Round Current Perception One year ahead Expectation
Improve Remained same Worsened Net Response Improve Remains same Worsen Net Response
Sep-24 35.9 26.2 37.9 -2.0 57.1 20.9 22.1 35.0
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

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
Sep-24 96.1 2.7 1.1 -95.0 89.6 5.2 5.2 -84.5
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

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
Sep-24 80.6 14.6 4.8 -75.8 81.8 15.4 2.8 -79.0
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
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
Sep-24 23.3 44.1 32.6 -9.3 57.1 31.9 11.0 46.2
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

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
Sep-24 87.9 9.7 2.5 85.4 88.8 9.2 2.0 86.9
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

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
Sep-24 89.1 8.5 2.4 86.7 89.9 8.0 2.1 87.8
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

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
Sep-24 55.6 18.3 26.1 29.4 68.2 18.7 13.0 55.2
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

Table 9: Rural Consumer Confidence Indices
Survey Round Current Situation Index (CSI) Future Expectations Index (FEI)
Sep-24 96.9 123.4
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

Table 10: Current Period Median Inflation Perception of the Various Groups
  Mar-25 May-25
Estimate SE Estimate SE
Overall 6.6 0.23 6.3 0.17
Gender-wise        
Male 6.7 0.27 6.3 0.17
Female 6.4 0.26 6.4 0.27
Category-wise        
Salaried Employees 6.5 0.35 6.7 0.35
Self Employed 6.9 0.38 6.1 0.22
Homemakers 6.4 0.29 6.5 0.28
Retired Persons 7.6 0.83 6.2 0.50
Daily Workers 6.6 0.39 6.1 0.18
Others 6.1 0.25 6.4 0.23
Age Group-wise        
21 to 29 years 6.5 0.24 6.3 0.20
30 to 39 years 6.8 0.29 6.3 0.28
40 to 59 years 6.4 0.30 6.2 0.22
60 years and above 7.2 0.59 6.1 0.19
  Jul-25 Sep-25
Estimate SE Estimate SE
Overall 5.8 0.08 5.9 0.13
Gender-wise        
Male 5.8 0.11 6.0 0.18
Female 5.7 0.08 5.9 0.19
Category-wise        
Salaried Employees 5.9 0.20 6.7 0.43
Self Employed 5.9 0.21 6.1 0.26
Homemakers 5.8 0.10 6.0 0.26
Retired Persons 6.7 0.93 6.0 0.65
Daily Workers 5.6 0.10 5.9 0.22
Others 5.7 0.11 5.7 0.20
Age Group-wise        
21 to 29 years 5.7 0.08 5.6 0.15
30 to 39 years 5.7 0.09 6.1 0.26
40 to 59 years 5.9 0.15 6.0 0.22
60 years and above 6.0 0.27 6.0 0.37
Notes: The table provides estimates and standard errors (SE) for quantitative responses.

Table 11: One Year Ahead Median Inflation Expectations of Various Groups
  Mar-25 May-25
Estimate SE Estimate SE
Overall 9.3 0.23 8.9 0.19
Gender-wise        
Male 9.3 0.29 8.9 0.24
Female 9.2 0.28 9.1 0.30
Category-wise        
Salaried Employees 9.1 0.32 9.5 0.32
Self Employed 9.0 0.34 8.6 0.38
Homemakers 9.5 0.31 9.0 0.30
Retired Persons 9.5 0.79 8.8 0.59
Daily Workers 9.3 0.36 8.5 0.34
Others 8.8 0.29 8.7 0.41
Age Group-wise        
21 to 29 years 9.2 0.31 8.8 0.22
30 to 39 years 9.0 0.29 9.2 0.28
40 to 59 years 9.2 0.28 8.6 0.30
60 years and above 9.8 0.46 8.3 0.31
  Jul-25 Sep-25
Estimate SE Estimate SE
Overall 7.9 0.25 7.6 0.23
Gender-wise        
Male 8.0 0.37 7.7 0.26
Female 7.6 0.26 7.7 0.37
Category-wise        
Salaried Employees 7.6 0.35 8.8 0.40
Self Employed 7.9 0.42 7.6 0.42
Homemakers 7.9 0.3 7.7 0.38
Retired Persons 8.9 1.02 8.0 0.77
Daily Workers 7.1 0.36 7.4 0.40
Others 7.8 0.42 8.0 0.47
Age Group-wise        
21 to 29 years 7.6 0.34 7.7 0.39
30 to 39 years 7.5 0.34 7.7 0.41
40 to 59 years 8.0 0.41 7.7 0.33
60 years and above 8.2 0.67 7.3 0.47
Notes: The table provides estimates and standard errors (SE) for quantitative responses.

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
Sep-24 6.7 0.23 9.6 0.24
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
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: Sep-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
<1 625 100 50 41 32 29 5 14 15 16 14     16 10 2 10   979
1-<2 79 60 142 53 35 6 9 6   4 2 2   1   12     411
2-<3 75 42 105 209 185 53 24 5 3 19 7     1 1 2 3   734
3-<4 61 14 28 72 156 98 42 35 9 5 19     20 4   2   565
4-<5 104 13 16 26 90 241 88 77 29 73 39 3 1 2 3 1 3   809
5-<6 109 12 20 18 31 65 316 187 89 59 190 8 9 3 1 9 12 23 1161
6-<7 38 3 6 5 19 16 71 122 101 61 58 22 15 11 7 3 2 14 574
7-<8 55 5 2 2 4 19 12 68 86 100 59 12 14 4 10 7 3 10 472
8-<9 28 2 4 2 3 2 2 3 89 154 72 20 40 8 10 12 12 11 474
9-<10 77 2 7 6 16 6   4 9 85 178 54 31 14 96 30 48 28 691
10-<11 68 2 11 3 4 23 5 4 3 7 59 94 76 30 34 114 97   634
11-<12 6 2       2       1   23 38 37 12 4 7   132
12-<13 3     1   1       3 1   27 53 3 13 14   119
13-<14       1     1 1           2 48 2 2   57
14-<15 4     1 3 1   1   1 2   1   18 53 18   103
15-<16 10 1 1   1 7       1 5     1   60 69   156
>=16 110 5 4 1 5 8 3   1 12 26 2 1 2   28 569   777
Total 1452 263 396 441 584 577 578 527 434 601 731 240 253 205 257 352 871 86 8848

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 August 06, 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.