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The Unprecedented Expansion of the Global Middle Class
Report

The Unprecedented Expansion of the Global Middle Class

An Update

Homi Kharas
Brookings Institution, 2017
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Well Structured
  • Overview

Recommendation

Globalization has expanded the market for goods and services worldwide, and the rise of the middle class in developing countries offers a growing consumer base that provides businesses with enormous opportunities. Economist and policy expert Homi Kharas looks into the implications that the growth of the global middle class – which he predicts will reach the five billion mark by 2028 – holds for the environment and the economy. getAbstract recommends his informative though quantitative report to social scientists, economists and marketers.

Take-Aways

  • The middle class is on target to make up a majority of the world population beginning around 2020.
  • Nearly 90% of the next one billion people to attain middle-class status will be in Asia. In North America and Europe, however, middle-class growth has stalled.
  • The middle class spends the most – about $35 trillion in 2015 – on consumer goods and services, compared to the $11 trillion and $8 trillion that the wealthy and the poor expended, respectively.

About the Author

Homi Kharas is deputy director of the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution.

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