CB BureauThe report from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB, released on August 19, stresses
that a great number of Asia’s new middleclass individuals still live on
incomes just above poverty levels, leaving them vulnerable to a relapse into
poverty. At the same time, the emergence of so much new spending power carries
with it a host of new environmental and health concerns that until recently
were more typical of wealthier parts of Asia and the world.
The report points out that strong economic growth in Asia
over the past two decades has been accompanied by significant reductions in
poverty, as previously poor households have moved into the middle class.
ADB Chief Economist Jong-Wha Lee says, ‘Clearly, policies
are needed that both bolster the new status of the middleclass and deal with
its adverse consequences; policies that encourage the creation of and access to
more well-paid jobs and more advanced education and health care to help prevent
slippage back into poverty, and that mitigate additional environmental
constraints and health concerns.’
It is to be noted that between 1990 and 2008, spending in
Asia increased almost threefold, compared to marginal increases in all other
regions, including developed countries. ‘As a result, consumption
expenditures by developing Asia are now second only to developed
countries,’ states the report, published in a special chapter of Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2010,
the flagship annual statistical publication of ADB.
According to the report, the five countries with the largest
middleclass by population shares are Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Thailand,
Kazakhstan and Georgia; the five smallest are Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos,
Uzbekistan and India.
Yet, in absolute size, India’s middleclass is very large
compared to other countries given its massive population. Only in the People’s
Republic of China is the middleclass larger.