China’s middle class has surpassed that of the United States to become the world’s largest, according to the 2015 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report.
The Swiss Bank also predicted that Asia will be the site of the greatest expansion of the world’s middle class.
With 109 million adults “this year, the Chinese middle class for the first time outnumbered” that in the United States at 92 million, the report states.
While the number of middle class worldwide grew last year at a slower pace than the wealthy, it “will continue to expand in emerging economies overall, with a lion’s share of that growth to occur in Asia,” Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam said in a statement accompanying the annual report.