Original title: Will the growth rate of farmers’ income exceed that of urban residents for 12 consecutive years?
Zhongxin Finance, January 20 (Gong Hongyu Zuo Yuqing) The National Bureau of Statistics recently released data showing that in 2021, the income growth of rural residents in my country will be significantly faster than that of urban residents. This is the 12th consecutive year that the growth rate of farmers’ income has been ahead of that of urban residents.
Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Zhongxin Finance and Economics that increasing farmers’ income is conducive to stimulating residents’ consumption, and it is expected that this leading trend will continue in the future.
Rising wages for migrant workers boosts farmers’ income
The data shows that in 2021, the per capita disposable income of rural residents will be 18,931 yuan, a nominal increase of 10.5%, and after deducting price factors, a real increase of 9.7%; the per capita disposable income of urban residents will be 47,412 yuan, a nominal increase of 8.2%, after deducting price factors, a real increase of 7.1% %.
The nominal and real growth rates of the per capita disposable income of rural residents were 2.3 and 2.6 percentage points higher than those of urban residents, respectively. The income ratio of urban and rural residents narrowed from 2.56 in the previous year to 2.50, and the relative income gap between urban and rural residents continued to narrow.
“In recent years, there has been a large demand for migrant workers’ recruitment and higher wages, which is very beneficial to farmers’ income increase.” Talking about the reasons for farmers’ income increase, Li Guoxiang said in an interview with Zhongxin Finance that the increase in migrant workers’ wages has become the main support for farmers’ income increase.
Fang Xiaodan, director of the Household Survey Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that in 2021, the per capita wage income of rural residents will increase by 14.1%, with an average increase of 9.9% in the two years. According to the National Migrant Workers Monitoring Survey, the total number of migrant workers nationwide will reach 292.51 million in 2021, and the scale has exceeded the level in 2019. The sustainable development of the county economy has promoted the increase of local employment opportunities, and the local migrant workers increased by 3.7% compared with 2019. In 2021, the average monthly income of migrant workers will be 4,432 yuan, an average increase of 5.8% in two years, driving a steady increase in the wage income of rural residents.
Net operating income also showed a recovery trend. Fang Xiaodan said that in 2021, driven by favorable factors such as the national grain output reaching a new high, the price of live pigs stabilizing, and the prices of some agricultural and animal husbandry products being relatively good, the per capita net operating income of rural residents will increase by 8.0% in 2021, 1.3% faster than the previous three quarters. percent.
Injecting power into residents’ consumption
In addition to reflecting the continuous narrowing of the urban-rural development gap, Li Guoxiang believes that increasing farmers’ income plays an important role in stimulating residents’ consumption.
“Compared with urban residents, the absolute value of farmers’ income is not high. After the income increases, most of them will soon be converted into consumption, which is of great positive significance for stimulating my country’s domestic cycle and building a new development pattern.” Li Guoxiang said.
Data show that in 2021, household consumption expenditure will continue to recover. The per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was 15,916 yuan, a nominal increase of 16.1%, and a real increase of 15.3% after deducting price factors. The growth rate of per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was better than that of urban residents, and the nominal and actual growth rates were 3.9 and 4.2 percentage points higher than that of urban residents, respectively.
Data map: Villagers buy fruit in the township street.Photo by Zhang DanThe leading trend of farmers’ income increase will continue
The income growth of rural residents has been faster than that of urban residents for 12 consecutive years. In the past two years, the ratio of urban and rural residents’ income has shrunk more significantly than before. In this regard, Li Guoxiang analyzed that it is expected that in the next few years, farmers will continue to increase their incomes more than urban residents.
However, he said that due to factors such as the new crown epidemic, there are still many challenges in 2022. Some domestic and foreign institutions predict that economic growth may slow this year. In this case, increasing the income of migrant workers will usher in more uncertainty.
“Therefore, in terms of policy, it is still important to increase farmers’ income.” Li Guoxiang said. (Finish)