Generation A

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1 Generation A
2 Generation A - the thesis

[edit] Generation A

Generation A is a term used to describe the generation of young, aspirational people in emerging economies. ^[1] The term has been used in both the financial press^[2] and in the general news media since first being coined by Macquarie research analysts in June, 2008^[3] .

[edit] Generation A - the thesis

Macquarie argued that the economic potential of Generation A is such that they will overtake previous "generations" in the old developed world (the Baby-boomers, Generation X and Y). "A" stands for aspiration. Generation A comprises people with an annual income between US$3,000 to US$5,000 who reside in the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Generation A is not necessarily a specifc region or socio-economic group, but is a stereotype of people who are moving up the income ladder.

The stereotypical Generation A'er has moved to a larger city, own a low cost mobile phone service and a refrigerator, and are saving up for a larger "enabler" - a car rather than a motorbike, for example^[4].

The size of Generation A in 2000 was approximatley 400 million people and is forecast to expand to 1.2 billion people by 2030^[5]

[edit] Urbanisation and Generation A

Generation A's preference to live in cities has increased the urbanisation rate in countries such as China, where the urban population as a percentage of the total population has increased from 20% at the start of the 1980's to approximately 43% in 2006^[6]. In 2007, more people lived in cities than lived in rural areas for the first time in the world's history. ^[7]

"It is projected that, in less than a decade [by 2018], more than half of the Chinese population,some 870 million people, will be urbanites"

—United Nations State of World Pupulation 2007^[8]