Rural India Spends More on Tobacco Than Education: Troubling Report Reveals
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News18•21-01-2026, 17:22
Rural India Spends More on Tobacco Than Education: Troubling Report Reveals
- •Rural Indian households allocate 4% of their total consumption expenditure to tobacco products, primarily gutkha, compared to just 2.5% on education.
- •The Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HCES) data highlights a significant increase in tobacco consumption, with per capita spending rising by 58% in rural and 77% in urban India over the last decade.
- •The number of tobacco-consuming households in rural India surged by 33% to 13.3 crore, while urban areas saw a 59% increase to 4.7 crore households.
- •Gutkha consumption has seen a nearly six-fold increase in rural India, now accounting for 41% of all rural tobacco expenditure, with high prevalence in states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
- •The survey reveals a strong link between poverty and tobacco use, with over 70% of the bottom 40% income group in rural India consuming tobacco, spending a higher proportion of their income on it.
Why It Matters: Rural India's higher spending on tobacco than education signals a critical public health and socio-economic challenge.
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