The report says that although the definition of middle class isn't exactly clear in India, recent numbers suggest that the number of Indians slotting into the category, has fallen in 2015.
In India, 2.36 crore belong to the middle class out of 66.4 crore persons (14% of the world's adult population) that stacks in the middle class, a report by IndiaSpent has said, citing the Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse global financial services agency.
The report says that although the definition of middle class isn't exactly clear in India, recent numbers suggest that the number of Indians slotting into the category, has fallen in 2015.
There are various methods to calculate the percentage of population belonging to the middle class. Various agencies, international entities like the World Bank use various methods to calculate this.
However, for the purpose of the aforementioned Global Wealth Report Credit Suisse considered wealth rather than income to calculate the number of persons belonging to the middle class.
Source: Global Wealth Report 2015
To justify this, Credit Suisse says while considering income-based definition, it is possible to miss elements of freedom and security -- "that a spell of unemployment can cause middle class status to evaporate. However, with the use of a wealth-based definition, it is possible to consider the bigger picture -- "that middle class membership is resilient to temporary setbacks," the Credit Suisse report says.
Source: Global Wealth Report 2015
In India, persons holding estimated wealth equal to at least Rs 7,37,748 can be considered in the middle class.
Though there has been a significant growth in population in India over 15 years, more than 90% of the adult population falls in the lower part of wealth pyramid showing the uneven distribution of wealth in the country.
Source: Global Wealth Report 2015
India has one of the fastest growing middle class populations, second only to China. Over the last 15 years, the report says that nearly 67 lakh adults have been added to the middle class segment, with the total wealth of the segment rising by $1.2 trillion.
China's middle class grew by 380 lakh to 1080 people, and the total wealth under the category went up by $5.6 trillion.
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