PRESS RELEASE
Asia-Pacific to comprise two-thirds of global middle class by 2030, Report says
2013 Human Development Report says Asian countries at forefront of ‘Rise of the South’ must address ageing, environment, inequality to sustain current progress
Mexico City, 14 March 2013— The rapid human development progress of China, Indonesia, Thailand and many other nations of East Asia and the Pacific is helping drive a historic shift in global dynamics, with hundreds of millions of people lifted from poverty and billions more poised to join the South’s fast-growing middle class, according to the 2013 Human Development Report, which is being launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) here today.