Beyond poverty: Why growing the middle class is a different challenge Lalita MoortySailesh Tiwari August 31, 2026 This page in: English

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/beyond-poverty--why-growing-the-middle-class-is-a-different-chal The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region has achieved one of the most remarkable economic transformations in history. In just a few decades, hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty, living standards have surged, and the region has become a global benchmark for what development looks like when it works. But success raises its own questions, and the most urgent one is this: having come so far, so fast, what does it take to keep going?