For the past few years, a big story in India's economy has been that small towns are spending more. It all began with kirana, as small-towners began spending more on premium FMCG products. But they are also buying more homes, investing more money, shopping more online and driving growth for luxury goods too. Now they are demanding something far more revealing — dollars. Tier-2 and tier-3 cities now account for 53% of India's forex demand, overtaking the metros, as per Thomas Cook India’s Forex Report 2026, cited by TOI.
The shift suggests that India's consumption story is moving into a new phase, where rising prosperity in smaller towns is no longer expressed only through domestic spending but also through overseas travel, international education and global lifestyle choices. The rush for foreign currency can be seen as the latest marker of a maturing consumer market beyond metropolitan India. The latest data attests that India's consumption story is no longer being written in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and other large cities alone.
