Co-Founder & Chief Economist · World Data Lab
Homi Kharas is co-founder of World Data Lab and a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development, housed in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. He studies policies and trends influencing developing countries, including aid, the emergence of the middle class, and global governance. He served as lead author and executive secretary of the secretariat supporting the UN High Level Panel on the post-2015 development agenda, and is co-author of "The Rise of the Global Middle Class".
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February 2026
Global inequality has declined this century, especially in consumption terms, helping drive the rapid expansion of the global middle class. By Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Homi Kharas, and Sourav Suman.
May 2024
Prosperity is less prevalent than many assume, but the number of people living well, above $25 a day, keeps rising. By Wolfgang Fengler and Homi Kharas.
December 2023
The average person now accounts for 7.4 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, and the per-capita peak may already be behind us. By Homi Kharas and Wolfgang Fengler.
July 2023
The world reached 4 billion consumers in June 2023, with Asia contributing most of the next billion. By Wolfgang Fengler, Homi Kharas, Juan Caballero, and Luis Simoes.
June 2022
Asia's share of the global consumer class passed the halfway mark, with South Asia driving the next decade of growth. By Wolfgang Fengler, Homi Kharas, and Juan Caballero.
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