Strong Growth Boosts Middle Class Population
- By Abimbola Tooki
- Published May 9th, 2011
- News
- Unrated
A new African Development Bank (AfDB) study has disclosed that robust economic growth in Africa over the last decade has swelled the size of its middle class to 313 million from 196 million it was in 2000.
The study said 313 million Africans could now be classified as middle class, compared to 151 million in 1990 and 196 million in 2000.
The figures are further evidence of the growing consumer clout of the poorest continent, although the AfDB did qualify its findings by saying that 60 per cent
of the middle class “were barely out of the poor category.” Sales of refrigerators, television sets, mobile phones, motors and automobiles have surged in virtually every country in recent years, the report said. It cited an 81 per cent increase since 2006 in the
possession of cars and motorcycles in Ghana, whose economy may expand as much as
12 per cent this year due to the start of commercial oil production in December.
South Africa was ranked top in terms of vehicle ownership, with 300 vehicles per
1,000 people in 2007, more than twice of the figure five years ago.
Typically, middle class Africans would also own their own houses, opt for private rather than state medical care and spend more on food and schooling for their children, the report said. The North African states of Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria fared best in the overall assessment, with more than 75 per cent of their populations ranked as middle class. Gabon and Botswana, both small, resource-rich states, came top among sub-Saharan countries.
In Nigeria and Ethiopia, Africa’s two most-populous nations with 230 million people between them, the middle classes made up 22 per cent of the population, the report said.
The study said 313 million Africans could now be classified as middle class, compared to 151 million in 1990 and 196 million in 2000.
The figures are further evidence of the growing consumer clout of the poorest continent, although the AfDB did qualify its findings by saying that 60 per cent
of the middle class “were barely out of the poor category.” Sales of refrigerators, television sets, mobile phones, motors and automobiles have surged in virtually every country in recent years, the report said. It cited an 81 per cent increase since 2006 in the
possession of cars and motorcycles in Ghana, whose economy may expand as much as
12 per cent this year due to the start of commercial oil production in December.
South Africa was ranked top in terms of vehicle ownership, with 300 vehicles per
1,000 people in 2007, more than twice of the figure five years ago.
Typically, middle class Africans would also own their own houses, opt for private rather than state medical care and spend more on food and schooling for their children, the report said. The North African states of Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria fared best in the overall assessment, with more than 75 per cent of their populations ranked as middle class. Gabon and Botswana, both small, resource-rich states, came top among sub-Saharan countries.
In Nigeria and Ethiopia, Africa’s two most-populous nations with 230 million people between them, the middle classes made up 22 per cent of the population, the report said.
