Emerging Middle Class Spending Could Near $20 Trillion Jul 9, 2010

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There are now almost two billion middle class consumers, who spend $6.9 trillion annually and whose spending could grow to almost $20 trillion in the next 10 years according to a report in The McKinsey Quarterly. That amount is about double the amount spent now in the United States.

"Multinational companies need new 'scale at speed' approaches to penetrate the developing world’s increasingly prosperous consumer markets," wrote authors David Court and Laxman Narasimhan.

Global brands and multinational companies will have to go up against established local firms. However, the author states, new middle class consumers "offer an opportunity for early winners to gain lasting advantages," the authors state.

Middle class population growth is not limited to the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China), the report says.

The report considers consumers making $13,500 to $113,000 in purchasing-power-parity terms to be part of the emerging middle class.

The report categorizes these nations as developing countries:
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Egypt
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Romania
• Russia
• South Africa
• Thailand
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• Venezuela
• Vietnam

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