Table 4: Rural real consumption per person as percentage of urban real consumption per person Region 1992.93 4997-98 Difference Vientiane municipality 748 774 26 Northern cogion 38 75 03 Cental region 780 685 78 Souther region 580 66 84 Lao POR rar eas 93 The increasing rural-urban disparity in consumption should be of concern to the government because rural areas have much lower standard of living than the urban areas to begin with. Table 5 reveals the differences in average standard of living across provinces. It is evident that the standard of living varies widely across the provinces. The poorer provinces are mainly located in the Northern region. The two poorest provinces, namely, Huaphanh and Oudomxay, both located in the Northern region, have per capita consumption of only Kip 18202 and Kip 18678 per month in 1997-98, respectively. The two richest provinces are Vientiane Municipality and Xayaboury, which have per capita consumption of Kip 44175 and Kip 38301 per month, respectively. Per capita real consumption by province (in Mar 97- Feb 98 Lao urban areas Table prices) Regionsiprovinces 1992-93, 1997-98 Growth rate Vientiane municipality 29,765 44.175 73 Norther region 22,508 25.710 27 Phongsaly 1811 287 39 Luangnamiha—* 22934 23,898 08 Oudomray 24373 18878 $3 Boke0 26313, 26,203, 04 Luangphrabang 20.914 26,895 50 Huaphanh 17.308 18,202 190 Xayaboury 30,008 38,301 49 om 26,547 a7 os 10