Investors should pay heed to changing demographic trends as a clue for future potential growth opportunities. There would seem no greater demographic shift taking place right now, than the rising of the Asian middle class. The chart below (sourced from the Financial Review) shows the growth in Asian middle class between now and 2030.
Investors should ask themselves what changes take place in a person's life as they earn more and build wealth? How does their diet change? Once basic needs such as food and shelter are provided for, what do people with more disposable income spend money on?
We have sourced some interesting statistics from a presentation we hosted with Platinum Asset Management that highlight some interesting spending habits taking place in China in 2014.
1. 32 million passengers flying per month
2. 640 million internet users
3. 25 million motor vehicles sold
4. $5bn in box office revenue at the movies
5. 14bn e-commerce parcels delivered
When looking at these numbers from a place like Australia with a population of around 23 million, it is difficult to get your ahead around the sheer size of the opportunity at hand.
There are large demographic shifts taking place in middle class in Asia - how is your investment strategy positioned to profit from this?