By 2030, the middle-class population in Asia-Pacific is expected to increase from **** billion people in 2015 to **** billion people. In comparison, the middle-class population of sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase from *** million in 2015 to *** million in 2030. Worldwide wealth While the middle-class has been on the rise, there is still a huge disparity in global wealth and income. The United States had the highest number of individuals belonging to the top one percent of wealth holders, and the value of global wealth is only expected to increase over the coming years. Around ** percent of the world’s population had assets valued at less than 10,000 U.S. dollars, while less than *** percent had assets of more than one million U.S. dollars. Asia had the highest percentage of investable assets in the world in 2018, whereas Oceania had the highest percentage of non-investable assets. The middle-class The middle class is the group of people whose income falls in the middle of the scale. China accounted for over half of the global population for middle-class wealth in 2017. In the United States, the debate about the middle class “disappearing” has been a popular topic due to the increase in wealth among the top billionaires in the nation. Due to this, there have been arguments to increase taxes on the rich to help support the middle class.

Tokyo is the city where the highest number of consumers counts as middle class and above. In the Japanese capital, ** million people earned at least the equivalent of the highest ** percent of global income earners as of 2022 in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Delhi and Shanghai followed behind.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total for Lower Middle Income Countries (SPPOPTOTLLMC) from 1960 to 2024 about population and income.

This statistic shows the percentage share of China's middle class consumption in the world in 2015 with forecasts for 2020 and 2030. According to the forecast, China's middle class consumption would account for approximately ** percent of the total middle class consumption worldwide in 2030.

United States US: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data was reported at 30.600 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 30.100 % for 2013. United States US: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 30.100 % from Dec 1979 (Median) to 2016, with 11 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30.600 % in 2016 and a record low of 25.300 % in 1979. United States US: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

In the Middle Eastern region, the share of the population that earned at least the equivalent of the highest ** percent of global income earners as of 2022 in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms was **** percent. Saudi Arabia topped the list with the highest share of middle-class and above category of consumers in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia the share of middle class and above consumer share was 100 percent.

United States US: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Latin America & The Caribbean data was reported at 17.755 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 17.642 % for 2015. United States US: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Latin America & The Caribbean data is updated yearly, averaging 14.701 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 23.170 % in 1960 and a record low of 10.495 % in 1986. United States US: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Latin America & The Caribbean data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Imports. Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America and the Caribbean are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from low- and middle-income economies in the Latin America and the Caribbean region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.; ; World Bank staff estimates based data from International Monetary Fund's Direction of Trade database.; Weighted average;

Norway NO: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Outside Region data was reported at 21.300 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 22.255 % for 2015. Norway NO: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Outside Region data is updated yearly, averaging 8.473 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 22.255 % in 2015 and a record low of 3.710 % in 1986. Norway NO: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Outside Region data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Norway – Table NO.World Bank: Imports. Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in other World Bank regions according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.; ; World Bank staff estimates based data from International Monetary Fund's Direction of Trade database.; Weighted average;

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for Low and Middle Income Countries (SPPOPGROWLMY) from 1961 to 2024 about income, population, and rate.

In China, the share of the population that earned at least the equivalent of the highest ** percent of global income earners as of 2022 in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms was **** percent. Hangzhou topped the list with the highest share of middle-class and above category of consumers.

Georgia GE: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Latin America & The Caribbean data was reported at 1.538 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.446 % for 2015. Georgia GE: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Latin America & The Caribbean data is updated yearly, averaging 1.703 % from Dec 1993 (Median) to 2016, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.527 % in 2002 and a record low of 0.001 % in 1993. Georgia GE: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Latin America & The Caribbean data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Georgia – Table GE.World Bank: Imports. Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America and the Caribbean are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from low- and middle-income economies in the Latin America and the Caribbean region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.; ; World Bank staff estimates based data from International Monetary Fund's Direction of Trade database.; Weighted average;

The average for 2024 based on 36 countries was 4.83 points. The highest value was in El Salvador: 6.47 points and the lowest value was in Lesotho: 3.19 points. The indicator is available from 2013 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In India, the share of the population that earned at least the equivalent of the highest ** percent of global income earners as of 2022 in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms was ** percent. Hyderabad topped the list with the highest share of middle-class and above category of consumers. Cities from south India topped the list with the first four ranks, followed by the national capital, Delhi.

Abstract

Is global inequality (inequality among world citizens) stable, decreasing or increasing? How high it is? Is it mostly due to inequalities within nations or between nations? Is there a global middle class? See the working papers above: "True world income distribution 1988 and 1993: first calculations based on household surveys alone" no. 2244, and "Decomposing global income distribution: Does the world have a middle class?" no. 2562

Household survey data (1988-2002) used in these papers, and subsequent book "Worlds Apart: Measuring International and Global Inequality", Princeton University Press, 2005. The data are for three benchmark years: 1988, 1993 and 1998

Kind of data

Aggregate data [agg]

Mode of data collection

Other [oth]

Croatia HR: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Europe & Central Asia data was reported at 11.440 % in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 13.100 % for 2022. Croatia HR: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Europe & Central Asia data is updated yearly, averaging 7.395 % from Dec 1993 (Median) to 2023, with 31 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.100 % in 2022 and a record low of 1.848 % in 1993. Croatia HR: Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Europe & Central Asia data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Croatia – Table HR.World Bank.WDI: Imports. Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Europe and Central Asia are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from low- and middle-income economies in the Europe and Central Asia region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.;World Bank staff estimates based data from International Monetary Fund's Direction of Trade database.;Weighted average;

In the Middle Eastern region, the share of the population that earned at least the equivalent of the highest ** percent of global income earners as of 2022 in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms was **** percent. The cities of Riyadh and Jiddah in Saudi Arabia, as well as Dubai in the UAE, topped the list with the highest share of middle-class and above category of consumers in the Middle East. In those selected cities, the share of middle class and above consumer share was *** percent.

Will all children be able to read by 2030? The ability to read with comprehension is a foundational skill that every education system around the world strives to impart by late in primary school—generally by age 10. Moreover, attaining the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education requires first achieving this basic building block, and so does improving countries’ Human Capital Index scores. Yet past evidence from many low- and middle-income countries has shown that many children are not learning to read with comprehension in primary school. To understand the global picture better, we have worked with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) to assemble a new dataset with the most comprehensive measures of this foundational skill yet developed, by linking together data from credible cross-national and national assessments of reading. This dataset covers 115 countries, accounting for 81% of children worldwide and 79% of children in low- and middle-income countries. The new data allow us to estimate the reading proficiency of late-primary-age children, and we also provide what are among the first estimates (and the most comprehensive, for low- and middle-income countries) of the historical rate of progress in improving reading proficiency globally (for the 2000-17 period). The results show that 53% of all children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read age-appropriate material by age 10, and that at current rates of improvement, this “learning poverty” rate will have fallen only to 43% by 2030. Indeed, we find that the goal of all children reading by 2030 will be attainable only with historically unprecedented progress. The high rate of “learning poverty” and slow progress in low- and middle-income countries is an early warning that all the ambitious SDG targets in education (and likely of social progress) are at risk. Based on this evidence, we suggest a new medium-term target to guide the World Bank’s work in low- and middle- income countries: cut learning poverty by at least half by 2030. This target, together with improved measurement of learning, can be as an evidence-based tool to accelerate progress to get all children reading by age 10.

For further details, please refer to https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/e52f55322528903b27f1b7e61238e416-0200022022/original/Learning-poverty-report-2022-06-21-final-V7-0-conferenceEdition.pdf

The average for 2023 based on 42 countries was 16.28 percent. The highest value was in Libya: 35.28 percent and the lowest value was in Lebanon: 5.17 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Switzerland Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Outside Region data was reported at 20.848 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 20.596 % for 2015. Switzerland Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Outside Region data is updated yearly, averaging 7.159 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 20.848 % in 2016 and a record low of 4.651 % in 1990. Switzerland Imports: Low- and Middle-Income Economies: % of Total Goods Imports: Outside Region data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Switzerland – Table CH.World Bank: Imports. Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in other World Bank regions according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.; ; World Bank staff estimates based data from International Monetary Fund's Direction of Trade database.; Weighted average;

The average for 2024 based on 48 countries was 7798 U.S. dollars. The highest value was in Mongolia: 16801 U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in the Solomon Islands: 2527 U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.