
List of current emerging markets
There is no generally binding definition of the term "emerging market." It refers to countries that, based on their economic performance, can be classified as developing countries as well as industrialized countries. The term "emerging market country" is best described as "newly industrialized country."Currently, 10 countries belong to this classification, most of which are located in southern and eastern Asia. The largest economies among them currently are China, India and Brazil. In total, these 10 countries have 3.83 billion inhabitants, which is about 48.33 percent of the world's population.

Country | Population | GNI per capita | Human Development Index | Human Asset Index |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brazil | 214.3 M | 7,740 USD | 0.754 | 95.9 |
China | 1,425.7 M | 11,880 USD | 0.768 | 95.7 |
India | 1,425.8 M | 2,150 USD | 0.633 | 74.3 |
Indonesia | 273.8 M | 4,180 USD | 0.705 | 83.3 |
Malaysia | 33.6 M | 10,710 USD | 0.803 | 89.5 |
Mexico | 126.7 M | 9,590 USD | 0.758 | 94.9 |
Philippines | 113.9 M | 3,550 USD | 0.699 | 84.3 |
South Africa | 59.4 M | 6,530 USD | 0.713 | 86.2 |
Thailand | 71.6 M | 7,090 USD | 0.800 | 94.0 |
Turkey | 84.8 M | 9,900 USD | 0.838 | 97.1 |
Description of an Emerging Market
What all countries have in common is above-average economic growth. The idea that this growth must take place predominantly in the industrial sector is now considered outdated. Countries such as India, for example, have achieved their strong growth primarily in the service sector.Since there is no binding definition of emerging markets, states other than those listed here are occasionally mentioned. Often these are Argentina, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Russia. The World Bank maintains a comparable list of 55 countries under the "upper-middle-income economies" classification. The International Monetary Fund calls its own list "emerging and developing economies" and names 150 countries.
Social and economic problems on the way to becoming an industrial nation
The development of a less developed country into an industrialized nation is associated with far-reaching problems. Strong growth is often associated with high inflation rates and drastic financial crises. The gap between the poor and the rich population increases rapidly during this time. Government intervention in areas such as social security, education, subsidies for selected sectors of the economy and anti-corruption measures lead to a disproportionate increase in public debt. Unemployment rates are also affected to a high degree, so private over-indebtedness is also the norm. The road to becoming an industrial nation involves many cuts and reforms for the state, companies and population, and usually takes decades.Key figures in comparison
(All figures weighted according to population share.)Newly industrialized countries | World | USA | |
---|---|---|---|
Total population | 3.8 bn | 7.9 bn | 331.9 m |
GNP per capita | 6,931 USD | 12,026 USD | 70,930 USD |
Government debt (% of GDP) | 54.4 % | 64.8 % | 115.3 % |
Expenditure on education (% of GDP) | 4.1 % | 4.3 % | 6.1 % |
Unemployment rate | 6.2 % | 5.8 % | 3.6 % |
Literacy rate | 88.4 % | 86.8 % | 0.0 % |
Electricity access | 99.1 % | 90.4 % | 100.0 % |
Birth rate | 12.9 ‰ | 16.9 ‰ | 11.0 ‰ |
Life expectancy | 72.2 years | 71.3 years | 76.3 years |