This article is from five months ago, but it's worth a read. Why was there so much talk in India about overtaking China when China is so far ahead of India? Perhaps India should set a more realistic goal for itself.
China's middle class 10 times larger than that in India - The Times of India
LONDON: The swelling middle class has long been India's strength, driving the country's economy. But it now seems that China has emerged as home to the world's largest number of people belonging to the "middle class".
Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report 2014 released on Tuesday says that there are one billion adults at present who belong to the middle class - with wealth anywhere between $10,000-$100,000 range. With a net worth of $31 trillion, this group holds considerable economic clout.
However according to the report, India has just 3% of the global middle class, and that share has changed very little during the past decade.
In contrast, China's share of the middle class has doubled since 2000 and now covers one-third of the global membership, 10 times the share of India.
The Credit Suisse report says that the total global household wealth increased in current dollar terms to $263 trillion, or $56,000 per adult in the world, an all-time high for average net worth.
Aggregate household wealth has more than doubled since the start of the millennium from $117 trillion in 2000 to $263 trillion in mid-2014.
Over the same period, personal wealth in India and China has risen by a factor of 3.1 and 4.6 respectively. Allowing for the rise in the adult population, global net worth per adult has increased by 77% from 2000, an average growth rate of 4.3% per annum. Despite recording a 15% decline during the financial crisis, wealth per adult has increased each year since 2008 and is now 7% above its pre-crisis peak.
India has seen rapid growth in wealth measured in domestic terms since the year 2000. In rupees, wealth per adult has grown quite steadily, averaging an 8% annual increase over 2000-2014. Until the global financial crisis, wealth also rose strongly in US dollar terms, from $2,040 in 2000 to $5,100 in 2007. After falling 25% in 2008, it rebounded, reaching $5,400 in 2010, but then fell 13% in 2011 due to adverse exchange rate movements.
"As is common in the developing world, household wealth in India is heavily skewed towards property and other real assets, which make up 86% of estimated household assets".
While wealth has been rising strongly in India, and the ranks of the middle class and wealthy have been swelling, not everyone has shared in this growth and there is still a great deal of poverty. This is reflected in the fact that 95% of the adult population has wealth below $10,000. At the other end of the scale, a very small proportion of the population (just 0.3%) has a net worth over $100,000.
China's middle class 10 times larger than that in India - The Times of India
LONDON: The swelling middle class has long been India's strength, driving the country's economy. But it now seems that China has emerged as home to the world's largest number of people belonging to the "middle class".
Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report 2014 released on Tuesday says that there are one billion adults at present who belong to the middle class - with wealth anywhere between $10,000-$100,000 range. With a net worth of $31 trillion, this group holds considerable economic clout.
However according to the report, India has just 3% of the global middle class, and that share has changed very little during the past decade.
In contrast, China's share of the middle class has doubled since 2000 and now covers one-third of the global membership, 10 times the share of India.
The Credit Suisse report says that the total global household wealth increased in current dollar terms to $263 trillion, or $56,000 per adult in the world, an all-time high for average net worth.
Aggregate household wealth has more than doubled since the start of the millennium from $117 trillion in 2000 to $263 trillion in mid-2014.
Over the same period, personal wealth in India and China has risen by a factor of 3.1 and 4.6 respectively. Allowing for the rise in the adult population, global net worth per adult has increased by 77% from 2000, an average growth rate of 4.3% per annum. Despite recording a 15% decline during the financial crisis, wealth per adult has increased each year since 2008 and is now 7% above its pre-crisis peak.
India has seen rapid growth in wealth measured in domestic terms since the year 2000. In rupees, wealth per adult has grown quite steadily, averaging an 8% annual increase over 2000-2014. Until the global financial crisis, wealth also rose strongly in US dollar terms, from $2,040 in 2000 to $5,100 in 2007. After falling 25% in 2008, it rebounded, reaching $5,400 in 2010, but then fell 13% in 2011 due to adverse exchange rate movements.
"As is common in the developing world, household wealth in India is heavily skewed towards property and other real assets, which make up 86% of estimated household assets".
While wealth has been rising strongly in India, and the ranks of the middle class and wealthy have been swelling, not everyone has shared in this growth and there is still a great deal of poverty. This is reflected in the fact that 95% of the adult population has wealth below $10,000. At the other end of the scale, a very small proportion of the population (just 0.3%) has a net worth over $100,000.
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