The Big Fat Indian Wedding

In the month of November 2016, immediately after demonetisation there was a sense of doom and gloom in India’s jewellery retail trade.

However, within two months the confidence levels in the jewellery industry have gone up. One of the most important reasons for the improved sentiment is the pick-up in sales during the wedding season.

At present India has a population of around 1.25 billion. There are around 250million families in India and an average family has five members. With about one marriage per family every 20 years, the country averages roughly 10 million marriages every year. An average 30 to 40 grams of gold is bought in every marriage across the country, thus the total consumption of gold is between 300 to 400 tonnes annually for marriage season alone.

Currently, the wedding industry is estimated over Rs 110,000 crore and is growing at 25-30% annually. On an average an Indian spends between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 5 crore for a wedding. It amounts to almost a fifth of the accumulated wealth.