A new Standard Bank study finds that there are 15 million middle-class households in 11 of sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s top economies in 2014, up 230% since 2000.<\/p>\n
The report, entitled \u2018Understanding Africa\u2019s middle class,\u2019 noted that there were 4.6 million middle-class households in 2000 and 2.4 million in 1990.<\/p>\n
However, of the total number of households across these focal economies, 86% of them remain within the broadly \u201clow income\u201d band.<\/p>\n
The report also found that the combined GDPs of the 11 measured economies had grown tenfold since 2000.<\/p>\n
In the past, the conventional wisdom was that as many as 300 million Africans are categorised as \u2018middle class\u2019, Standard Bank said.<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s LSM measure as a methodology is not income-based but rather uses a wider range of analysis. The report covers 11 selected sub-Saharan African countries which combined account for half Africa\u2019s total GDP (75% if excluding South Africa) and half its population.<\/p>\n
The methodology identified LSM5 and above as middle class and categorises household income into four distinct income bands: low income; lower middle class; middle class and upper middle class.<\/p>\n
\u201cStandard Bank has attempted to fill the knowledge gap by using comprehensive household income data and adopting our own measure of the middle class using South Africa\u2019s LSMs as a framework in order to provide cross-quantifiable reference points for peer African economies,\u201d the bank said.<\/p>\n
The 11 focus economies are: Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking ahead, an even greater elevation in income growth is anticipated in the next 15 years; between 2014 and 2030, we expect an additional 14 million middle-class households will be added across the 11 focal countries \u2013 tripling the current number.<\/p>\n
“Including lower-middle-class households, the overall number swells to over 40 million households by 2030, from around 15 million today,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, while figures for 1990, 2000 and 2014 all contain more lower-middle class than middle class households, by 2030 it is expected that \u201cthere will be notably more middle-class households than those in the lower-middle-class bracket (19.2 million versus 22 million)\u201d.<\/p>\n
As a caution, the report said: \u201cThough there has been a meaningful individual lift in income, it is clear that a substantial majority of individuals in most countries we looked at still live on or below the poverty line (measured as those with a daily income of USD2 or less).\u201d<\/p>\n
Income discrepancies are vast among the 11 economies, with almost 86% of the 110 million households in the focal grouping falling within the low-income band. This is expected to fall to around 75% by 2030, Standard Bank said.<\/p>\n
SA black middle class pegged at 3 million<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n