The Growing Middle Class Of India

The Middle Class in India

First Published Date : June 13, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

One of the biggest drivers of an economy is the middle class. They have enough disposable income to help fuel retail businesses, they also have more time to enjoy what they buy, which usually results in them buying more things that are slightly more expensive. For a country to be strong and healthy, it needs a good middle class and there are few with a middle class as large, or growing as fast, as India’s middle class.

India is currently growing, economically-speaking, at a rate of 8.3 per cent every single year. This is putting the country on track to become one of the biggest economy on the planet. Currently, India has the third largest economy in Asia, behind only China and Japan.

Currently, the middle class of India numbers 50 million people, all of whom are being sold on Western culture, including its brands. This means that India’s purchasing power is going to grow, reaching 6.1 per cent of the world share by 2015. India is also working to eradicate poverty within only nine years. In 2006, one quarter of India was in poverty but that number is shrinking.

As India grows, so does its middle class and so does the PPP-adjusted GDP of the Indian people, which currently sits at $3,290 in U.S. dollars.

Amazingly, by only 2015, 70 per cent of India could be in the middle class, which would mean it will grow from 50 million people to nearly 750 million people, more than most countries have combined. This means that North American markets and investors can begin investing in products that Indians want, because in only a few years, a lot of Indians are going to be able to buy them.

India trades heavily with China, which in turn will continue to help China’s growth. North American and European investors don’t want to be left behind though and are working hard to make sure India keeps buying from them as well.

India joins several other economies in Asia that are becoming world leaders and are expected to be the dominant economies of the 21st century in a few decades. These countries include Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand and Malaysia. In 2050, these countries will represent 75 per cent of the Asian population, and their Gross Domestic Product could push past 90 per cent of all of Asia’s Gross Domestic Product. Amazingly, these countries will also account for half of the world’s entire Gross Domestic Product by 2050 as well. If these countries have 3.1 billion people, and $14.2 trillion in GDP right now, think of how much they will have in just a few decades.

As India grows, so does its middle class and that presents immense opportunities for many investors to get in on the ground floor of people who suddenly have more money than they ever had before, and who are ready to spend that money like never before as well.

There are big opportunities indeed.