Band, Baaja, Baraat: Indians spend twice as much on weddings than education

By Priyanka Deshpande

CNBC-TV18.com

Published June 27, 2024

The Indian wedding industry, valued at $130 billion in FY24, ranks second only to the food and grocery sector, according to a report by the investment banking and capital markets firm Jefferies. Here are some key highlights:

India’s wedding market is twice the size of the US market, but smaller than China.

Every year, an estimated 80 lakh to 1 crore weddings take place across the country.

Indians on an average spend $15,000, or ₹12.5 lakh on wedding.

An average Indian couple spends about twice as much on weddings as they do on education.

Luxury weddings in India often see expenditures ranging anywhere from ₹20 lakh to ₹30 lakh, significantly surpassing average wedding costs.

The average wedding expenditure in India is about five times the country's per capita GDP of $2,900 (over ₹2.4 lakh) and more than three times the average annual household income of approximately ₹4 lakh.

The ratio of wedding spending to GDP in India is significantly higher than in other countries.

Indians allocate the largest portion of their wedding expenses to jewelry, spending around $35-40 billion on it.

BIGGEST EXPENSES

Approximately $24-26 billion is spent on catering, while around $18-20 billion goes towards events.

Expenses for wedding photography amount to around $10-12 billion, and decor costs are approximately $10 billion.

Clothing and apparel expenses during weddings total around $9 billion.