In 2023, just over 55.36 percent of Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) came from its service sector. Agriculture contributed the second largest amount, while eleven percent came from the industry sector. The majority of the Nepalese population lives in rural areas, and are depended on agriculture for their livelihood. A struggling but strong population Around 63 percent of Nepal’s 29.6 million inhabitants are part of the workforce, i.e. between 15 to 64 years old. Though the country has a very low unemployment rate (probably due to the fact that agricultural occupations are usually not taken into account when calculating national unemployment) , it is considered a country weighed down by high poverty, with a consistent trade deficit and a volatile inflation rate. However, recent perceptions of children’s living standards when they grow up in Nepal are overwhelmingly of the opinion that the standard of living is better. The Nepalese economy Nepal has robust ties with the country of India, which is both the country’s main export partner, as well as its main import partner . Nepal’s economy has been under the influence of political instability over the course of the country’s history: a monarchy until the early 2000s, it then became a republic with a Maoist-dominated government. Lately, Nepal made several attempts to improve its economic situation, but still relies heavily on remittances and foreign aid.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nepal was worth 42.91 billion US dollars in 2024, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of Nepal represents 0.04 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides - Nepal GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Nepal NP: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income data was reported at 2.213 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.379 % for 2015. Nepal NP: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income data is updated yearly, averaging 3.594 % from Jul 2002 (Median) to 2016, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.403 % in 2014 and a record low of -0.476 % in 2002. Nepal NP: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Annual Growth Rate. Adjusted net national income is GNI minus consumption of fixed capital and natural resources depletion.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods described in 'The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future' (Lange et al 2018).; Weighted average;

Net primary income (Net income from abroad) (current US$) in Nepal was reported at 704320183 USD in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nepal - Net income from abroad - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Exports of goods, services and primary income (BoP, current US$) in Nepal was reported at 4711599972 USD in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nepal - Exports of goods, services and income (BoP, current US$) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Nepal NP: GDP: USD: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data was reported at 681.083 USD in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 700.603 USD for 2015. Nepal NP: GDP: USD: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 193.089 USD from Jul 1971 (Median) to 2016, with 46 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 700.603 USD in 2015 and a record low of 69.778 USD in 1971. Nepal NP: GDP: USD: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank: Gross Domestic Product: Nominal. Adjusted net national income is GNI minus consumption of fixed capital and natural resources depletion.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods in World Bank's 'The Changing Wealth of Nations: Measuring Sustainable Development in the New Millennium' (2011).; Weighted Average;

Nepal NP: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data was reported at 1.062 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.166 % for 2015. Nepal NP: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 2.422 % from Jul 2002 (Median) to 2016, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.110 % in 2014 and a record low of -2.115 % in 2002. Nepal NP: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Annual Growth Rate. Adjusted net national income is GNI minus consumption of fixed capital and natural resources depletion.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods in World Bank's 'The Changing Wealth of Nations: Measuring Sustainable Development in the New Millennium' (2011).; Weighted average;

Nepal NP: Gross National Income: Linked Series data was reported at 5,410,895.120 NPR mn in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 5,005,397.241 NPR mn for 2022. Nepal NP: Gross National Income: Linked Series data is updated yearly, averaging 697,149.500 NPR mn from Jul 1990 (Median) to 2023, with 34 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,410,895.120 NPR mn in 2023 and a record low of 111,382.277 NPR mn in 1990. Nepal NP: Gross National Income: Linked Series data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Nominal. GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. This series has been linked to produce a consistent time series to counteract breaks in series over time due to changes in base years, source data and methodologies. Thus, it may not be comparable with other national accounts series in the database for historical years. Data are in local currency, at current prices.;World Bank staff estimates based on World Bank national accounts data archives, OECD National Accounts, and the IMF WEO database.;;

Net primary income (BoP, current US$) in Nepal was reported at 704749302 USD in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nepal - Net income (BoP, current US$) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Analysis unit

Persons and households

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: no - Vacant Units: no - Households: yes - Individuals: yes - Group quarters: no

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: Places which are being used by people to live in, having four walls on the all four sides, a roof and one or more room or storey. - Households: A household means a group of people living together based on the same source of income and take their meal in the same kitchen. In a household there might be only one person/many person, relatives or not relatives as well. The main basis for identifying household members of a household is decided by income expenses and kitchen concept. - Group quarters: Not available

Universe

All individuals residing within the kingdom

Kind of data

Population and Housing Census [hh/popcen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Central Bureau of Statistics

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 2067609.

SAMPLE DESIGN: Systematic sampling is used to draw sample households from all areas except in 6 districts (Rasuwa , Mugu, Humla, Dolpa, Mustang and Manang) and 52 (out of 58) municipalities, which were instead fully enumerated. In this sampling, the first serial number of house is randomly selected by the supervisor, and other numbers are selected by systematically mathematical procedure. The sampling rate is 1:8 for all ward/sub wards. IPUMS subsampled fully enumerated geographies and computed household weights to match district by household size distribution.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

There are two forms used. Schedule 1 (Short form) is used to collect the information of all households and individuals. Schedule 2 (Long form) is used to collect information of the households and individuals from the sampled households.

Abstract

The NLSS 1995/96 is basically limited to the living standards of households.

The basic objectives of this survey was to provide information required for monitoring the progress in improving national living standards and to evaluate the impact of various government policies and program on living condition of the population. This survey captured comprehensive set of data on different aspects of households welfare like consumption, income, housing, labour markets, education, health etc.

Geographic coverage

National coverage The 4 strata of the survey: - Mountains - Hills (Urban) - Hills (Rural) - Terai

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Community

Universe

The survey covered all modified de jure household members (usual residents).

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample Design

Sample Frame: A complete list of all wards in the country, with a measure of size, was developed in order to select from it with Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) the sample of wards to be visited. The 1991 Population Census of Nepal was the best starting point for building such a sample frame. The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) constructed a data set with basic information from the census at the ward level. This data set was used as a sample frame to develop the NLSS sample.

Sample Design: The sample size for the NLSS was set at 3,388 households. This sample was divided into four strata based on the geographic and ecological regions of the country: (i) mountains, (ii) urban Hills, (iii) rural Hills, and (iv) Terai.

The sample size was designed to provide enough observations within each ecological stratum to ensure adequate statistical accuracy, as well as enough variation in key variables for policy analysis within each stratum, while respecting resource constraints and the need to balance sampling and non-sampling errors.

A two-stage stratified sampling procedure was used to select the sample for the NLSS. The primary sampling unit (PSU) is the ward, the smallest administrative unit in the 1991 Population Census. In order to increase the variability of the sample, it was decided that a small number of households - twelve - would be interviewed in each ward. Thus, a total of275 wards was obtained.

In the first stage of the sampling, wards were selected with probability proportional to size (PPS) from each of the four ecological strata, using the number of household in the ward as the measure of size. In order to give the sample an implicit stratification respecting the division of the country into Development Regions, the sample frame was sorted by ascending order of district codes, and these were numbered from East to West. The sample frame considered all the 75 districts in the country, and indeed 73 of them were represented in the sample. In the second stage of the sampling, a fixed number of households were chosen with equal probabilities from each selected PSU.

The two-stage procedure just described has several advantages. It simplified the analysis by providing a self-weighted sample. It also reduced the travel time and cost, as 12 or 16 households are interviewed in each ward. In addition, as the number of households to be interviewed in each ward was known in advance, the procedure made it possible to plan an even workload across different survey teams.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A preliminary draft of the questionnaire was first prepared with several discussions held between the core staff and the consultant to the project. Several documents both received from the world bank as well as from countries that had already conducted such surveys in the past were referred during this process. Subsequently the questionnaire was translated into NepalI.

After a suitable draft design of the questionnaire, a pre-test was conducted in five different places of the country. The places selected for the pre-test were Biratnagar, Rasuwa, Palpa, Nepalganj and Kathmandu Valley. The entire teams created for the pre-test were also represented by either a consultant or an expert from the bank. Feedback received from the field was utilized for necessary improvements in finalizing the seventy page questionnaire.

The content of each questionnaire is as follows:

HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. HOUSEHOLD INFORMATION This section served two main purposes: (i) identify every person who is a member of the household, and (ii) provide basic demographic data such as age, sex, and marital status of everyone presently living in the household. In addition, information collected also included data on all economic activities undertaken by household members and on unemployment.

Section 2. HOUSING This section collected information on the type of dwelling occupied by the household, as well as on the household's expenditures on housing and amenities (rent, expenditure on water, garbage collection, electricity, etc.).

Section 3. ACCESS TO FACILITIES This section collected information on the distance from the household's residence to various public facilities and services.

Section 4. MIGRATION This section collected information from the household head on permanent migration for reasons of work or land availability.

Section 5. FOOD EXPENSES AND HOME PRODUCTION This section collected information on all food expenditures of the household, as well as on consumption of food items that the household produced.

Section 6. NON-FOOD EXPENDITURES AND INVENTORY OF DURABLE GOODS This section collected information on expenditure on non-food items (clothing, fuels, items for the house, etc.), as well as on the durable goods owned by the household.

Section 7. EDUCATION This section collected information on literacy for all household members aged 5 years and above, on the level of education for those members who have attended school in the past, and on levelof education and expenditures on schooling for those currently attending an educational institution.

Section 8. HEALTH This section collected information on illnesses, use of medical facilities, expenditure on health care, children's immunization, and diarrhea.

Section 9. ANTHROPOMETRICS This section collected weight and height measurements for all children 3 years or under.

Section 10. MARRIAGE AND MATERNITY HISTORY This section collected information on maternity history, pre/post-natal care, and knowledge/use of family planning methods.

Section 11. WAGE EMPLOYMENT This section collected information on wage employment in agriculture and in non-agricultural activities, as well as on income earned through wage labor.

Section 12. FARMING AND LIVESTOCK This section collected information on all agricultural activities -- land owned or operated, crops grown, use of crops, income from the sale of crops, ownership of livestock, and income from the sale of livestock.

Section 13. NON-FARM ENTERPRISES/ACTIVITIES This section collected information on all non-agricultural enterprises and activities -- type of activity, revenue earned, expenditures, etc.

Section 14. CREDIT AND SAVINGS This section collected information on loans made by the household to others, or loans taken from others by household members, as well as on land, property, or other fixed assets owned by the household.

Section 15. REMITTANCES AND TRANSFERS This section collected information on remittances sent by members of the household to others and on transfers received by members of the household from others.

Section 16. OTHER ASSETS AND INCOME This section collected information on income from all other sources not covered elsewhere in the questionnaire.

Section 17. ADEQUACY OF CONSUMPTION This section collected information on whether the household perceives its level of consumption to be adequate or not.

RURAL COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURES This section collected information on the characteristics of the community, availability of electricity and its services and water supply and sewerage.

Section 2. ACCESS TO FACILITIES Data on services and amenities, education status and health facilities was collected.

Section 3. AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY Information on the land situation, irrigation systems, crop cycles, wages paid to hired labor, rental rates for cattle and machinery and forestry use were asked in this section.

Section 4. MIGRATION This section collected information on the main migratory movements in and out.

Section 5. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, USER GROUPS, etc. In this section, information on development programs, existence user groups, and the quality of life in the community was collected.

Section 6. RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOL This section collected information on enrollment, infrastructure, and supplies.

Section 7. RURAL HEALTH FACILITY This section collected information on health facilities, equipment and services available, and health personnel in the community.

Section 8. MARKETS AND PRICES This section collected information on local shops, Haat Bazaar, agricultural inputs, sale of crops and the conversion of local units into standard units.

URBAN COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURE Information was collected on the characteristics of the community, availability of electricity, water supply and sewerage system in the ward.

Section 2. ACCESS TO FACILITIES This section collected information on the distance from the community to the various places and public facilities and services.

Section 3. MARKETS AND PRICES This section collected information on the availability and prices of different goods.

Section 4. QUALITY OF LIFE Here the notion of the quality of life in the community was

Nepal NP: GDP: USD: Adjusted Net National Income data was reported at 19.740 USD bn in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 20.077 USD bn for 2015. Nepal NP: GDP: USD: Adjusted Net National Income data is updated yearly, averaging 3.869 USD bn from Jul 1971 (Median) to 2016, with 46 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 20.077 USD bn in 2015 and a record low of 854.348 USD mn in 1971. Nepal NP: GDP: USD: Adjusted Net National Income data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank: Gross Domestic Product: Nominal. Adjusted net national income is GNI minus consumption of fixed capital and natural resources depletion.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods described in 'The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future' (Lange et al 2018).; Gap-filled total;

Primary income payments (BoP, current US$) in Nepal was reported at 262429708 USD in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nepal - Income payments (BoP, current US$) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Nepal NP: GDP: 2010 Price: USD: Adjusted Net National Income data was reported at 19.487 USD bn in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 19.065 USD bn for 2015. Nepal NP: GDP: 2010 Price: USD: Adjusted Net National Income data is updated yearly, averaging 13.449 USD bn from Jul 2001 (Median) to 2016, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19.487 USD bn in 2016 and a record low of 10.726 USD bn in 2002. Nepal NP: GDP: 2010 Price: USD: Adjusted Net National Income data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Real. Adjusted net national income is GNI minus consumption of fixed capital and natural resources depletion.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods described in 'The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future' (Lange et al 2018).; Gap-filled total;

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Household

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: No - Vacant units: No - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: No

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: Places which are being used by people to live in, having four walls on the all four sides, a roof and one or more room or storey. - Households: A household means a group of people living together based on the same source of income and take their meal in the same kitchen. In a household there might be only one person/many person, relatives or not relatives as well. The main basis for identifying household members of a household is decided by income expenses and kitchen concept. - Group quarters: Not available

Universe

All individuals residing within the kingdom

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Central Bureau of Statistics

SAMPLE DESIGN: Systematic sampling is used to draw sample households from all areas except in 6 districts (Rasuwa , Mugu, Humla, Dolpa, Mustang and Manang) and 52 municipalities. In this sampling, the first serial number of house is randomly selected by the supervisor, and other numbers are selected by systematically mathematical procedure. The sampling rate is 1:8 for all ward/sub wards.

SAMPLE UNIT: House/household

SAMPLE FRACTION: 11.35%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 2,583,245

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

There are two forms used. Schedule 1 (Short form) is used to collect the information of all households and individuals. Schedule 2 (Long form) is used to collect information of the households and individuals from the sampled households.

Abstract

The decennial agriculture census conducted by Central Bureau of Statistics captures the data on poutry reared by agriculture holding only. The number of poutry firms commercially reared for the purpose of meat and eggs are not included in such censuses. So this survey is complementary to the periodic agriculture census which addresses the data gap created by the former one. This survey deals in production of meat and eggs by the firms, employment generated by the firms as well as annual expenditure of the firms. Above all, this survey elaborates the contribution made by the firm in national income of Nepal.

Geographic coverage

National, Province, District

Analysis unit

Poultry firm

Universe

Commercial poulrty firms of Nepal

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Most important initiation of the survey was preparing a survey frame. Poultry farms rearing 500 or more than 500 chickens were defined as commercial poultry farms as less than 500 were captured through National Sample Census of Agriculture 2011/12. The enumerators of the SOs were directly involved for the listing purpose using papered listing form. Theoretically, the listing of the farms was based on primary source of data collection.The listing forms collected from districts were edited and coded and finally, the survey frame was prepared. After preparing the survey frame, the strata of the firms were prepared as per the number of chickens. Different sampling criteria were used for different strata. The samples were drawn from each stratum. Certain number of additional samples was drawn so as to address the non response and missing case. In case of hatchery, complete census was conducted.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire for the poultry survey were mostly structured questionnaires in Nepali. However, there were some questionnaires requiring the respondent's opininons on certain issue. A firm questionnaires was administered for each selected firm which collected various information on demographic information regarding firm, regestration status, operation year, ownership, legal status, main production of the firm, employment status of the firm,production and sale of the firm, current and capital expenditure of the firm, insurance of the firm, , number of poultry in the firm, production and sale of the firm, by-products of the firm, demage cause by deaseases to the poultry, current and capital expenditure of the firm, information on loan, infrastructure of the firm, previous occupation of the holder, training status of the holder, future planning of holder, status of bio-security of the firm and expectation of holder to government on the promotion of firm.

Cleaning operations

A centralised data preocessing system was used for the survey. As in the past, a need to maintain a careful control over data entry and verification of all coding was difficult to resolve at the field level. So the centralised system was adopted. For preliminary work, census and survey processing system (CSpro) was used for data entry and management. Most of the furthetr data analysis and tabulation was done using SPSS pacakage.

Response rate

There was no non-response case as the additional samples were drawn to address the non response as well as missing case.

Data appraisal

The data reflecting the questionnaire from the survey was cross-checked with the data from various agencies like Ministry of Livestocks and Poultry Federation of Nepal. Likewise, the data from the survey were also varified from the post field work.

Food security and dietary diversity, defined as providing either physical (availability) or economic (accessibility) access to food, are linked with access to and control over productive resources and is a highly-gendered phenomenon. In Nepal, labor out-migration has increased household income and may have increased people’s ability to access diverse food either by increasing investment in agriculture or purchasing various food items from the market. However, the relationship between household dietary improvement and labor out-migration is complex. Drawing on a survey of 1,053 migrant households in three agroecological regions of Nepal, this paper disentangles this complex phenomenon by showing how household dietary diversity and women’s dietary diversity are influenced by biophysical, social, economic, and cultural factors. The influence of the amount of remittances, land abandonment, and women confined to the house by household chores are some factors that policy makers should consider seriously in designing gender-sensitive nutrition policies. The expansion of women’s agency contributes to enhancing dietary diversity and specifically women’s dietary diversity at the household level; however, how these factors determine an individual’s dietary diversity depends on intrahousehold dynamics and relations.

Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) in Nepal was reported at 12.2 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nepal - Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and income) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Abstract

The primary objective of the High-Value Agriculture Project in Hill and Mountain Areas (HVAP) was to reduce rural poverty and improve food security through enhanced value chains for high-value agricultural commodities in the hill and mountainous areas of Nepal. The project employed a unique approach bringing different actors of the value chain together; smallholder producers were linked with input suppliers, traders, technical service providers, and financial institutions. The project also provided business literacy training and helped strengthen production and marketing by forming farmer's cooperatives or groups, collectively called producer organizations (POs), technical support for household dairy production and developing milk-marketing chains.

The project covers seven hill and mountainous districts in Karnali province and identifies seven agricultural commodities as high value commodities in this area: apple, ginger, vegetable seeds, off-season vegetables, turmeric, timur (Sichuan pepper), and goat. The project supported smallholder farmers by strengthening their access to input markets, output markets, and service markets as well as their skills and capacity to produce market-oriented high value agricultural commodities.

For more information, please click on the following link: https://www.ifad.org/en/web/knowledge/-/publication/impact-assessment-high-value-agriculture-project-in-hill-and-mountain-areas.

Geographic coverage

Seven districts from Mid-Western Development Region (Karnali province in the newly adopted system) of Nepal.

Analysis unit

Households

Universe

Smallholder dairy farmers

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

HVAP interventions cover seven districts from Mid-Western Development Region (Karnali province in the newly adopted system). The project works with producer organizations (POs) and a total of pre-existing 456 POs (which consist of groups and cooperatives) in 144 village development committee (VDCs) are covered. HVAP covers a total of 144 VDCs, 456 POs, and 15,965 households. The total sample selected for the impact assessment consists of 3,028 households (1,504 treatment and 1,524 control households) in 235 POs or clusters (117 treatment POs and 118 control POs). The distribution of the sample size is proportional to the number of project beneficiaries in each district.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The household survey questionnaire consists of questions related to socio-economic status, agricultural and livestock production, other sources of income, dietary status, and household decision making. The PO survey questionnaire focuses mainly on indicators related to access to services and infrastructures, communal 20 groups, agricultural and livestock production, commodity prices, and economic activities.

Note: some variables may have missing labels. Please, refer to the questionnaire for more details.

Abstract

After the accomplishment of the Nepal Living Standards Survey, 1995/96, the Central Bureau of Statistics has given importance to the follow up surveys relating to household consumption. Two basic reasons stand behind such a policy. The first is to understand the behavior on consumption, facilitating the assessment of poverty levels. The second reason is to support the estimation of national aggregates of consumption required for the national accounting. It is on that line this consumption survey for rural Nepal has been attempted solely on the Government resources. Sustaining foreign aid supported projects in the long run through capacity building is the aim behind such follow up surveys.

The survey was planned in January 2000 and was launched in the later part of the same year. Hopefully, the survey results will provide some ways of linking the gap likely to emerge from the earlier and the next round of the Nepal Living Standards Survey now in the initial preparatory phase and scheduled for 2002/03. The survey followed the similar methodology as used in the Nepal Labour Force Survey, 1998/99. As a follow up survey, the sample size has been kept at a moderately low level of 1,968 households. The 1991 Population Census of Nepal was used as a frame for sampling. The sampling was done in such a way that the results are valid nationally for the rural areas.

The basic objectives of this survey were 1. To determine the pattern of household consumption and expenditure on food, non-food, housing, durable goods and own account production of goods and services for rural Nepal, and 2. To provide information required in the estimation of National Accounts aggregates.

Content of the survey 1. General information, 2. Housing expenditures, 3. Food expenditures (including home production), 4. Non-food expenditures and inventory of durable goods, 5. Non-food expenditures (own account production of goods and services), and 6. Income

Geographic coverage

Rural areas of Nepal Region Ecological belt

Analysis unit

Household

Universe

The survey covered the whole rural areas of the country and no geographical areas were excluded. All usual residents of rural Nepal were considered eligible for inclusion in the survey but households of diplomatic missions were excluded. As is normal in household surveys, homeless and those people living for six months or more away from the household or in institutions such as school hostels, police barracks, army camps and hospitals were also excluded.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample Design The aim of the HCSRN is to determine the consumption pattern of rural households of the country. This is not a baseline survey but is among the first in attempting to set the trend in consumption pattern of rural households with respect to time. It is envisaged that this type of small surveys are done in between the big surveys conducted specifically to measure the level of poverty in the country.

A two-stage sample selection procedure was adopted in the survey. The Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) consisted of a ward or in some cases a sub-ward or an amalgamation of small wards. PSUs were selected with Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling, with the number of households available from the 1991 Population Census as a measure of size. Within the selected PSU, all households were listed in the field and 12 households were selected by systematic sampling with random start. Using PPS sampling at the first stage, 165 PSUs were selected and in the second stage, using systematic sampling 12 households were selected from each PSU. In the process, a total of 1980 households were selected from the rural areas of the country.

Sampling Frame The 1991 Population Census of Nepal provided a base for building a sampling frame for the survey. The frame consisted of the list of wards along with the census count of the number of households in each ward. Because of the increase in the number of urban areas (municipalities) and the decrease of rural wards after the 1991 Population Census, the frame required certain modifications. The 33 municipalities at the time of census had been increased to a total of 58 municipalities. All rural wards converted into urban areas had to be removed from the earlier frame. In a number of cases new municipalities were created by combining together a large number of what were formerly wards in rural VDCs. Hence, the rural areas had a number of wards reduced from their earlier list. Fortunately, an exercise in modifying the rural frame had been already done for the purpose the last Nepal Labour Force Survey, 1998/99. Therefore, the same modified sampling frame of the NLFS was found most appropriate to be used for this survey as well.

Sample Size The sample size was determined on the basis of experiences gained from the previous surveys notably the NLSS and NLFS and the resources available for the survey. The survey obviously had to fix its sample size according to what the available resource could afford to accomplish. The sample size was fixed at 1,980 households.

Since the final "take" was to be 12 households per PSU, it was essential that a selected PSU contained a multiple of 12 households.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Household Survey Section of CBS developed an initial questionnaire of HCSRN on the basis of the questionnaires used in the NLSS and the Multi-Purpose Household Budget Survey (conducted by the Nepal Rastra Bank). The draft questionnaire was subsequently modified through experience gained from pre-tests. The pre-test was carried out in the rural areas of 12 districts.

Household Questionnaire

The questionnaire contained six sections. The contents of the questionnaire are as follows:

Section 1. General Information
The main purposes of this section were: (i) to identify the member of household, (ii) to provide basic demographic information such as sex, age and marital status, and (iii) to collect information on literacy.

Section 2. Housing
This section collected information on household's expenditure on housing, utilities and amenities (ownership, rent and expenditure on water, electricity, telephone, cooking fuels, etc.)

Section 3. Food Expenses and Home Production
This section collected information on food expenditure of the household including consumption of food items that the household produced.

Section 4. Non-food Expenditures and Inventory of Durable Goods This section collected information on expenditure on non-food items (fuels, clothing and personal care, etc.)

Section 5. Non-food Expenditures (Own Account Production of Goods and Services) This section collected information on own account production of goods and services (which included making of baskets, fetching water and collecting firewood, etc.)

Section 6. Income
This section collected information on income from different sources as well as information on loans and savings.

Cleaning operations

Completed questionnaires from the field were brought to the central office (Kathmandu) for data editing. For quality control, range and consistency checks as well as scrutiny were performed during the data entry period.

Response rate

In one of the PSUs selected for the survey, enumeration work could not be carried due to unavoidable reasons. The total number of households successfully interviewed was, thus, reduced to 1,968 among 1,980. The response rate of this survey is hence 99.4%.

Sampling error estimates

The sampling errors of key aggregates measured in this survey are provided in the Technical Documents. These sampling errors are calculated by means of the STATA 5.0 package that was used for processing this survey result. Sample design and sample size are the main factors that influence the size of the sampling error. In the case of total per capita consumption in rural Nepal, which is Rs.11, 928, the 95 percent lower and upper bounds for the estimate, are Rs.11, 605 and Rs.12, 251 respectively. This means that we are 95 percent confident that the average per capita consumption of rural part of Nepal lies within this range.