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New Study Unmasks Asia's Booming Middle Classes
The Asian Development Bank forecast in the study released Thursday that the spending power of middle class consumers -- anyone consuming between two and 20 dollars a day -- would increase by eight times in the next 20 years.
"The Rise of Asia's Middle Class" also sought to shed light on the characteristics of this burgeoning cross-section of society, concluding that they share many traits with their counterparts in the wealthy West.
They are more likely to be educated, live in urban areas and have fewer children and more progressive values. But they are also prone to over-eating and under-exercising and are keen buyers of cars and household electronics.
Their rise "may present many challenges, but it will also open up new and unprecedented opportunities for the region and for the world," the ADB concluded.
Not surprisingly, the biggest increase in middle-class Asians, who are estimated to number 1.9 billion now, will be observed in the two Asian giants with the largest populations, China and India.
China has so far been much more successful in elevating poor people, with 817 million or 63 percent of its population in the higher category in 2008, reflecting its much larger economy.
India's middle classes numbered 274 million in the same year, just a quarter of its vast 1.1-billion-strong population, according to data cited by the ADB.
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