A recent survey has highlighted that Kerala is the leading state in non-vegetarian food consumption in India. The survey, conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for 2022-23, was released on June 7, 2024. For the unversed, the Household Consumption Expenditure survey data helps highlight the diverse dietary preferences of people across the country. It also helps understand the regional variations in people’s food habits.
As per the Household Consumption Expenditure survey, 23.5 per cent of the food expenditure of the people in rural Kerala goes to non-vegetarian items, while 19.8 per cent is allocated by the urban residents, making it the highest in the country.
The second state on the list is Assam, where people in rural areas spend 20 per cent of their total food expenditure on eggs, fish and meat. On the other hand, people in the urban areas of Assam spend 17 per cent of their food budget on non-vegetarian food. Next in West Bengal, people both in rural and urban populations spend around 18.9 per cent of their food budget on non-vegetarian items. Other states with high non-vegetarian food consumption are Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The data also showed that people in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh consume the highest amount of milk and milk products, while the remaining states rely more on processed foods and beverages.
