Rural Consumption : Consumer demand has seen a gradual improvement across urban and rural markets, and rural areas are outpacing urban areas in terms of volume growth in most regions of India. According to a report by data analytics firm NielsenIQ, the Indian FMCG industry recorded 5.7 percent value-based growth on 1.5 percent price growth and 4.1 percent volume growth in the July-September quarter.

The report said urban consumption growth stood at 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024, while rural growth rose to six percent from 5.2 percent in the previous quarter, twice that of urban growth.

Small and medium FMCG (manufacturing household items of daily use) companies have bounced back after facing a decline in a few quarters. Their growth was faster than large FMCG companies in terms of value and volume, helped by the food sector.

The report said that the food consumption growth rate increased to 3.4 percent in the third quarter of 2024 (July-September) from 2.1 percent in the second quarter. It said that consumption growth in HPC (home and personal care) categories remained stable at six percent in the third quarter of 2024.