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A Global Middle Class Is More Promise than Reality

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  • Rakesh Kochhar

Abstract

The first decade of the 21st century witnessed an historic reduction in global poverty and a near doubling of the number of people who could be considered middle income. But the emergence of a truly global middle class is still more promise than reality. In 2011, a majority of the world’s population (56%) continued to live a low-income existence, compared with just 13% that could be considered middle income. And though there was growth in the middle-income population from 2001 to 2011, the rise in prosperity was concentrated in certain regions of the globe, namely China, South America and Eastern Europe. The middle class barely expanded in India and Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America.

Suggested Citation

  • Rakesh Kochhar, 2015. "A Global Middle Class Is More Promise than Reality," LIS Working papers 641, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lis:liswps:641
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    1. Branko Milanovic, 2002. "True World Income Distribution, 1988 and 1993: First Calculation Based on Household Surveys Alone," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(476), pages 51-92, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bazillier, Rémi & Héricourt, Jérôme & Ligonnière, Samuel, 2021. "Structure of income inequality and household leverage: Cross-country causal evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Eric Rougier & Jean‐Philippe Berrou & Matthieu Clément & François Combarnous & Dominique Darbon, 2021. "Should we call it a (middle) class? A socio‐economic exploration of the Vietnamese middle‐income group," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(8), pages 1321-1345, November.
    3. Vyacheslav Bobkov & Igor Kolmakov, 2017. "Identifying the Social Structure and the Inequality in Monetary Income of Russian Population," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(4), pages 971-984.
    4. Mavrozacharakis, Emmanouil & Dimari, Georgia, 2018. "The Decommissioning of the Middle Class," MPRA Paper 88462, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Vyacheslav Bobkov & Peter Herrmann & Igor Kolmakov & Yelena Odintsova, 2018. "Two-Criterion Model of the Russian Society Stratification by Income and Housing Security," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(4), pages 1061-1075.
    6. Pramit Verma & Justyna Chodkowska‐Miszczuk & Akhilesh Singh Raghubanshi, 2024. "Are cities ready for low‐carbon inclusive strategies? Household energy management under heterogeneous socioeconomic conditions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 4518-4534, October.
    7. Orlando Zambrano Roman, 2020. "An emerging but vulnerable middle class: a description of trends in Asia and the Pacific," Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 27(1), pages 1-20, June.
    8. Blomme, Océane & Héricourt, Jérôme, 2025. "Inequality, current account imbalances, and middle incomes," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    9. Greenacre, Luke & Akbar, Skye, 2019. "The impact of payment method on shopping behaviour among low income consumers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 87-93.
    10. Bazillier, Rémi & Héricourt, Jérôme & Ligonnière, Samuel, 2021. "Structure of income inequality and household leverage: Cross-country causal evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    11. Henning Melber, 2017. "The African middle class(es) – in the middle of what?," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(151), pages 142-154, January.

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