Understanding Household Expenditure: Milk and Milk Products Consumption

India holds a 23 per cent share of global milk production, making it the leading country in the dairy sector worldwide. The present study was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, India, to estimate the consumption patterns and expenditures on milk and milk products across different households. Milk consumption per capita per day was highest among urban consumers (0.659 litres per capita per day), followed by rural consumers (0.415 litres per capita per day) and NPISH consumers (0.379 litres per capita per day). Expenditure on liquid milk was about 43.06 per cent, followed by curd (16.51 per cent), ghee (16.48 per cent), paneer (11.86 per cent), khoa (6.80 per cent), and other milk products (5.29 per cent). Overall, milk used for liquid consumption accounted for approximately 59.24 per cent, while milk used for processing accounted for 40.76 per cent. The quantity of liquid milk consumed per year was highest in the rural population (3.05 million tonnes), followed by the urban population (1.66 million tonnes) and the NPISH population (0.14 million tonnes) in the state. Expenditure on liquid milk was about 43.06 per cent, followed by curd (16.51 per cent), ghee (16.48 per cent), paneer (11.86 per cent), khoa (6.80 per cent), and other milk products (5.29 per cent). The education level, family size, and annual income of the households were found to have a positive and significant impact on milk consumption. The consumption of processed milk products is increasing, and there is a need to address this aspect by expanding the dairy industry to meet this demand.