According to a report published by Credit Suisse in October, 14% of the 664 million adults in the world are in the middle class. This report is determined based on the total assets of people, not income.
Accordingly, Vietnam has 3 million people classified as the middle class, accounting for 0.5% of the population and only a small fraction of the more than 63.6 million adults. Total assets of this group in 2015 is from $5,030 to $30,000.
The average amount of assets of the middle class in Vietnam is about $18,074. With this figure, Vietnam was ranked 57th of 66 countries surveyed by Credit Suisse.
This level is also much higher than the average of $5,030 of the group of adults in Vietnam. However, compared to 2000, the average assets of the adult in Vietnam has increased significantly, from $1,727.
Each adult in Vietnam also contributed $2,634 to the country’s GDP. Total assets of more than 93 million Vietnamese people (according to estimates by Credit Suisse) is $320 billion, accounting for only 0.1% of total assets of the global population.
The main cause of this modest proportion is almost 90% of Vietnamese owned under $10,000 assets, while only 0.1% of the population own assets from $100,000 to $1 million.
Meanwhile, since 2000, China has added 43.4 million adults to the middle class, while the US added 22 million people. Assets of the middle class in the US range from $50,000 to $500,000.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/144393/what-are-the-assets-of-the-middle-class-in-vietnam-.html (151026)