India’s rise and growing heft in the global economic stage has forced the world to take notice. But with rising incomes of Indians, the gulf between the rich and the poor has also widened. The middle class, considered to be the backbone of the economy, has also not seen its standard of living rise as expected, according to a report in The Economist.

The articles on India’s middle-class can be read here:

https://t.co/AqeEwACscD

https://t.co/V4DywoVn3P

In tweets, Stanley Pignal, Mumbai correspondent of The Economist, pointing to a hallowed version of the country’s progress on the economic front.

Sourcing data from globally reputed organisations such as Credit Suisse, Pew Global and Carnegie, few Indians are part of the global middle class in terms of income, but many consider themselves middle class nonetheless.



Few Indians are part of the global middle class in terms of income, but many consider themselves middle class nonetheless - 49%.

Data from @MilanV + Devesh Kapur/CASI via Scroll. https://t.co/ZUMrj4Oa6J pic.twitter.com/bEBzPvBBuh — Stanley Pignal (@spignal) January 14, 2018

Here are some of his tweets related to that topic:



India has just 5 sq metres of formal retail per 1000 people. China has 39, Turkey 113, America 2000. (From Credit Suisse note). That means Philippines has more retail space than India pic.twitter.com/dJ0foCRWrY — Stanley Pignal (@spignal) January 14, 2018





Retail credit has grown rapidly in recent years, though remains low by EM standards. But Indian savings are at an 18-year low, notes Ambit. pic.twitter.com/DCkePVrXux

— Stanley Pignal (@spignal) January 14, 2018



The percentage of wealth held by middle class adults has fallen in India, from a low base. This also happened in other countries. But in India, it is largely because those *above* the middle class (with over $370k+ in assets) did so well. From Credit Suisse 2015 wealth report pic.twitter.com/ZK1TcQ5mkO — Stanley Pignal (@spignal) January 14, 2018





About half of all routine household spending in India is food. Also note that as Indians get richer, they spend a higher percentage of income on education. From Mint using ICE 360 data https://t.co/Svf27s0m2H pic.twitter.com/6Uun8XeTAs

— Stanley Pignal (@spignal) January 14, 2018