What is ‘middle class’?
Draft note
Andy Sumner
a.sumner@ids.ac.uk
Comparison of definitions of the ‘middle classes’
Author Definition type and details
AfDB (2011) Definition in absolute terms for a
‘Developing world middle class’
$2-$4/day and $2-$20
Banerjee and Definition in absolute terms for a
Duflo (2008) ‘Developing world middle class’
‘households whose daily per capita
expenditures valued at PPP are
between $2 and $4 or between $6
and $10’ (page 2)
Characteristics Size
313m or one in three (34%) of
Africans.
$2-$4 = 150m-180m
$4-$20/day = 120m-150m
Up from around 111m (26%) in 1980
and 196m (27%) in 2000
Spend more on higher quality food, n/a
entertainment and living conditions.
(p3)
More likely to be in salaried
employment (p10)
Likely to invest in children’s
education, healthcare and durable
goods (p13-16)
Have smaller families (p13)
Better access to credit but still
limited financing for business (p9)
Likely to operate businesses at low
or negligible profits (p10)
1
Birdsall Absolute, global threshold
(2010)
‘people at or above the equivalent of
$10 a day in 2005, and at or below
the 95th percentile of income
distribution in their own country’
(p4)
Goldman Absolute definition of a ‘world
Sachs (2008) middle class’
Those earning between $6000
(World Bank’s current definition of
‘upper middle income countries’ in
which discretionary spending levels
pick up sharply) and $30,000 in PPP
terms (corresponding to the median
income levels in OECD countries)
(p3)
McKinsey Global middle class defined in
(2010) absolute terms
Annual household income of
between $13,500 and $113,000
(PPP)
Ravallion Definition in absolute terms for a
(2009) ‘developing world’s middle class’
‘those who are not deemed “poor” by Large proportion of the developing
the standards of developing countries world middle class is ‘bunched’
but are still poor by the standards of around the $2 to $3 a day mark (p10-
Likely to have more than 10 years of n/a
education (p12 and p25)
Smaller household sizes (p13, p26)
More likely to be salaried workers
(p13, p27)
Three countries (Ghana, India and
Indonesia) have no population
defined as ‘middle class’ (p28)
Middle income includes both No estimations given – an estimated
countries and people 2 billion people could join this group
The fastest growing segment of the by 2030 (p5)
population is likely to shift from
those earning between $3,000 and
$6,000 and those earning between
$9,000 and $12,000.
No estimations given on a global
scale.
Indian middle class estimated at 50m
people (Farrell and Beinhocker,
2007)
Two types of developing countries: 2005: 2.6bn representing 48.5% of
one with large middle class and one the total population (p27)
with a small one (p11)
2
 rich countries’…
‘for the lower bound, the median
poverty line in 70 developing country
poverty lines ($2)’…and ‘as an upper
bound, the US poverty line of $13
per day’ (p4)
Kharas (2010) Global middle class, which is defined High income elasticity for durable
in absolute terms
‘those households with daily
expenditures between $10 and $100
per person in PPP terms. This
‘excludes those who are considered
poor in the poorest advanced
countries and those who are
considered rich in the richest
advanced country’ (p12)
Chun (2010) Defined in absolute terms to allow
for cross-country comparisons (p2)
Those earning between US$2 and
$20 per day (2005 PPP terms) (p2)
Wheary Defined in absolute terms with
(2010) acknowledgement of regional
variation:
‘The definition of what it means to
be “middle class” shifts from place to
place, from economy to economy”
(p76)
‘Individuals earning between $12
14)
goods and services (p15)
High expectations for civil rights and
fair judicial systems
Recognition of government’s duties
to invest wisely
3
2009: 1.8bn of which:
N. America: 338m
Europe: 664m
Central and S. America: 181m
Asia pacific: 525m
Sub-Saharan Africa: 32m
Middle East and North Africa: 105m
(p15-16)
57% of the Asian population is
middle class based on household
surveys (p9)
China: 800m
India: 264m
Growth since 1990 of 1.2bn since the
early 1990s
Projection that by 2020, ‘more than
half of the world’s population will
belong to the middle class’
 and $50 a day’ or, ‘in poorer parts of (p75)
the world – China, India, Africa – the
middle class earns between $2 and
$13 a day.’
Generally means ‘having enough
income to meet basic needs and
afford a few extras’ (p76)
Pew Global Defined in absolute terms Greater concern for open and honest
Attitudes elections and fair judicial system (p9
Survey (2009) ‘People in emerging nations whose –10)
household income can be considered Religion likely to have less
at least ‘middle income’ by importance (p17)
international standards – ‘people Strong desire for civil rights such as
earning more than $4286 per year in free speech (p14)
2005 standardised international
dollars based on World Bank report
of 2007 (p1 and p25)
Others by characteristics: ADB (2010) – MCs are households with earning an amount that is enough not just to survive but to invest
in productive activities that contribute to economy-wide welfare (p3-4); Deutsche Bank (2009) – MCs Make larger investments into
children’s education and health (p5); attractive market for consumer goods and financial services (p1).

4
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