The report, ‘State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ (SOFI) 2023, published last month, shows that while the cost of a healthy diet has increased in recent years in India, it is still the lowest among the BRICS nations (including the newly added six countries) and India’s neighbours. However, the share of people who are able to afford such a healthy diet is still low: India features at the bottom of that list since income levels are stagnant or going down. SOFI is published by the Food and Agriculture Organization and jointly produced with fellow United Nations agencies.
The Data Point published on Wednesday concluded that the cost of meals in Mumbai rose by 65% in five years, while salaries/wages rose by just 28%-37%. Mumbai was chosen as an exemplar due to the availability of consistent data. Today’s analysis takes a broader view by comparing India’s numbers with other countries.
In the SOFI report, the cost of a healthy diet is arrived at by looking at the cheapest local food items that meet dietary guidelines. The cost and availability of such food items is averaged from national data. To check if the diet is affordable, its cost is compared to the average income in each country. A diet is considered too expensive if it costs more than 52% of a country’s average income. This percentage is based on data showing that people in low-income countries spend about 52% of their income on food. The percentage of people who cannot afford this diet is then calculated by using income distributions within a nation.
