Monday Market Musings >>> The Rising Global Middle Class

Picture by: Samuel Toh

Even with the pandemic still raging in most of Asia, stiffening the economy, businesses, and economic development, it is still forecasted that more than a billion Asians will join the global middle class by 2030. A middle-class household spends between the range of $11 to $110 per day and currently reflects 3.75 billion people’s socioeconomic positions this year.

China and India are the most populated countries in the world, and between them there is potential for 750 million people to enter the middleclass category. However, it isn’t just India and China pulling the weight in Asia, many countries in Asia are set to increase the population of workers under a middle-class wage.

Indonesia is set to have the world’s fourth biggest middle class, overtaking both Russia and Japan in the world ranks. Bangladesh is also set to uplift more than 50 million people to middle class income levels, shooting them from 28th to 11th place in world rankings.

Asian countries already make up 50% of the world’s middle-class, however they only account for 41% of that group’s consumer spending. This value is expected to rise by 9% by 2032.

China, India and America are expected to retain the top three spots in ranking of the largest population of middle-class citizens. However, in countries like Japan, Poland and Germany, negative and slow population growth are expected to stunt middleclass development.

Published September 06th | 10.25 AM