Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least 32 million Indians have been squeezed out of the middle class due to the Covid-19 pandemic: more than three times the number registered in China, according to the Washington based Pew Research Centre. The institute yesterday published a study analysing the changes in income in the various states between January 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
The research shows that 54 million individuals worldwide can no longer be counted part of the middle class (those who earn between $ 10 and $ 20 a day). Most are concentrated in Asia, with India accounting for a 60% share. On the contrary, developed countries registered a growth (+16 million), also due to the reduction in income of people who lived on more than 50 dollars a day.
The global poor is on the rise. About 131 million people have become part of the category of those who earn less than $ 2 a day: in India the increase was 75 million (60% of the global share).
The impoverishment of the Indian population is a reflection of the decline in national GDP (-7.7% last year). In China, where the economy grew by 2.3%, the middle class shrank by 10 million. However, according to Pew Research, 30 million Chinese now find themselves in the low income bracket (between $ 2 and $ 10 a day). There has also been a small increase in the poor, a fact that belies the recent proclamation by Xi Jinping that the government has eradicated poverty.
