There is no consensus on the actual size of India’s middle class. Using the classification of those spending between US$2–10 per capita per day, over 600 million people — half of India’s population — were in the middle class in 2012, up from less than 300 million or 27 per cent of the population in 2000. Nearly 75 per cent of the middle class is comprised of the lower middle class — those spending US$2–4 per capita per day, a figure that’s only slightly above the global poverty line.
If using a higher income band — where a person is considered middle class if their daily income is approximately US$17–100 — 432 million Indians can be included in the middle class as of 2021, comprising 31 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 2005.
These are people who are able to care about more than subsistence. Not “middle class” in a western sense, but secure enough in their own community to be able to push their politicians to do something about them not dying of heatwaves.
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These are people who are able to care about more than subsistence. Not “middle class” in a western sense, but secure enough in their own community to be able to push their politicians to do something about them not dying of heatwaves.