According to a BBVA Research Report (January 2013), "Lower-income and poor people stood at about 80% of of the population in emerging countries in the 80s and 90s. Things started to change dramatically in 2000; in fact, by 2010, 660 million had been added to the first stages of the middle-class. In the same vein, middle and high middle classes more than doubled in a decade."

This explosive trend produces many risks as well as opportunities. Think energy, resource and food scarcity and resultant regional rivalries. Think global inter-connectivity. But also think brands and life-style products at the mass-market end and luxury goods at the top end in a world sans frontiers.

Download Emerging Middle-Class in fast-track mode – BBVA Research, January, 2013