Home Credit study: Grocery spend falls 8% as rent rises 21% in 2026

Home Credit India’s household-budget survey puts monthly grocery spending at ₹8,505, or 25% of the household wallet, while rent reached ₹6,965. Most respondents reported no change in spending or saving after GST 2.0, with incremental savings directed to food quality, education and healthcare.

— Source publishedTue, 25 Aug, 2026, 22:51 IST·First seen Tue, 25 Aug, 2026, 22:59 IST·Source Mint · Money

What happened

Home Credit India’s 2026 household-budget study finds grocery spending fell 8% after GST 2.0 while rent rose 21%. Consumers largely used savings cautiously,

Key facts

  • Grocery spending: ₹8,505/month in 2026, down 8% year-on-year
  • Groceries: 25% of household wallet
  • Rent: ₹6,965/month, up 21% year-on-year
  • Education spending: ₹6,604/month, up 12% year-on-year
  • Average surveyed monthly income: ₹35,000
  • Reported price relief: two-wheelers 26%, cars 25%, smartphones 22%, home appliances 22%, food and groceries 19%, medicines and healthcare 21%
  • 61% reported no change in spending or saving behaviour
  • 12% saved more; 12% spent more on food quality; 9% increased education spending; 7% increased health spending

Why this matters

Potential targets and partnerships are most compelling in value grocery, private label, affordable health and education-enabling services, where incremental household savings appear more likely to flow.

What to watch

  • Monthly food CPI, rent inflation and real wage growth in major cities.
  • Grocery basket size, private-label mix, small-pack penetration and promotion redemption rates.
  • Quick-commerce average order value, order frequency and non-essential SKU share.
  • GST pass-through to consumer shelf prices and evidence of higher post-GST household savings.
  • Credit-card and UPI spending growth in discretionary retail versus essentials.
  • Expand opening-price-point assortments, value bundles and private-label staples without eroding core-category availability.
  • Use rent-burdened urban clusters to target refill packs, subscription savings and loyalty offers tied to repeat essentials.
  • Rebalance promotional calendars away from blanket discounting toward basket-threshold offers and high-margin attachment categories.
  • Monitor premium-food demand by income cohort; retain premium assortment in affluent catchments while tightening slow-moving SKUs elsewhere.
  • Expect weaker demand in discretionary categories exposed to household-wallet tradeoffs, especially apparel, homeware, dining and non-essential quick-commerce.