A study conducted by Statistics Department of African Development Bank shows that a rising group of consumers rival those of China and India.The study provides three sub-categories of the middle class.

The first sub-category is that of the “floating class” with per capita consumption levels of between $2-$4 per day. Individuals at this level of consumption, which is only slightly above the developing-world poverty line of $2 per person per day (the second poverty line) used in some studies7, remain largely vulnerable to slipping back into poverty in the event of some exogenous shocks. This category is crucial because it is a hinge between the poor and lower middle class category. This class is vulnerable and unstable, but it reflects the direction of change in population structure through time.

The second sub-category is that of the “lower-middle” class with per capita consumption levels of $4-$10 per day. This group lives above the subsistence level and is able to save and consume non essential goods.

The third sub-category is the “uppermiddle  class” with per capita consumption levels of $10-$20 per day.

The results of the study reveal that Africa’s middle class has increased in size and purchasing power as strong economic growth in the past two decades has helped reduce poverty significantly and lift previously poor households into the middle class.

By 2010, the middle class (included floating class) had risen to 34.3% of the population—or nearly 313 million people—up from about 111 million or 26.2% in 1980, 151 million or 27% in 1990 and 196 million or 27.2% in 2000 .

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the recruitment into the middle class resulted in a small percentage of poor households becoming better off and entering the middle class. This trend accelerated slightly during the period 2000 to 2010 when more poor households moved into the middle class. At the same time, the 2000s witnessed a recruitment process from the rich class into the middle class, implying some slight improvement in income inequality.

However, income inequality in Africa remains very high. About 100,000 Africans had a net worth of $800 billion in 2008 or about 60% of Africa’s GDP or 80% of sub-Saharan Africa’s.

This brief uses an absolute definition of per capita daily consumption of $2-$20 in 2005 PPP (purchasing power parity) US dollars to characterize the middle class in Africa.