Inflation hit! Sales of FMCG products decreased in rural markets, slowdown continues in the sector – Report.

New Delhi. Consumption in the country’s daily consumption goods industry (FMCG) continued to moderate in the September quarter as well. It has been said in a report that there has been a big decline in demand in the September quarter as compared to the June quarter. Data analysis company NielsenIQ released a report on Thursday.

The report said that due to widespread inflationary pressure, companies are increasing prices due to which consumers are preferring to buy smaller packets of products. According to this quarterly report, the overall demand in the FMCG industry fell by 0.9 per cent in the September quarter as compared to the June quarter.

Fall in demand for the fourth consecutive quarter

This is the fourth consecutive quarter when demand has declined due to double digit price increases over the past six quarters. Demand in rural markets declined by 2.4 per cent in the June quarter to 3.6 per cent in the September quarter. On the other hand, demand in urban markets grew by 1.2 per cent during the same period.

The report said that the Indian FMCG industry continues to grow value-based and has grown by 8.9 per cent between July and September as compared to the previous quarter. It said, “Demand and price based sales in FMCG have crossed the pre-Covid i.e. March, 2020”.

Disappointed by rural markets

According to this, consumers are still preferring to buy smaller packets of items and most of the new offerings have changed the size of the packets. In the September quarter, the fall in demand in traditional mediums such as kirana or neighborhood shops increased by two per cent.

NielsenIQ Managing Director (India) Satish Pillai said that apart from inflationary pressures, rainfall in the country has been less or more in some places. This has also led to a softening of the indicators in the rural markets.