Yes, China and India are leading the surge in the new global middle class. This could be great news for multinationals, which have so far seen developing nations as a cheap source of labour, but now have new markets for their goods. Note of caution: while this class is potentially profitable, it’s also unpredictable. From knowledge at Wharton.
A new global middle class is rising up from poverty in emerging economies around the world, providing competition for labor and resources, but also enormous promise for multinationals that tailor products and services to the burgeoning ranks of first-time consumers, according to Wharton faculty and analysts.
Coca-Cola’s newly appointed chief executive Muhtar Kent sees this market as critical to his company’s future and describes the scale of the opportunity as equivalent to adding a city the size of New York to the world every three months. The World Bank estimates that the global middle class is likely to grow from 430 million in 2000 to 1.15 billion in 2030. The bank defines the middle class as earners making between $10 and $20 a day — adjusted for local prices — which is roughly the range of average incomes between Brazil ($10) and Italy ($20).
