Global middle-class fell by 90-million in 2020, says Pew
And the World Bank estimates as many as 124-million people fell below its $1.90 line for extreme poverty in the same year
18 March 2021 - 17:10
Washington — The global middle-class shrank for the first time in decades in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with almost two thirds of households in developing economies reporting they suffered a loss in income, according to two new estimates based on World Bank data.
In a study published on Thursday, researchers at the non-partisan Pew Research Center found that the ranks of the global middle-class — those earning $10-$50 per day — fell by 90-million people to almost 2.5-billion in 2020. That helped swell the ranks of the poor, or those living on less than $2 a day, by 131-million, Pew estimated...
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