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With more money in their pockets as a result of years of high GDP growth, BRIC consumers are spending like they never have before, driving a boom in retail investment.

Together, the BRIC nations account for 42% of the world’s population. China, with 1.3 billion people (according to its National Bureau of Statistics), was the most populous nation in the world in 2007, followed by India with 1.1 billion people. Russia is the least populous of the four BRIC nations with 0.14 billion people according to its Federal State Statistics Service, while Brazil’s population is about 0.186 billion, according to its census bureau. Individually and together, the BRIC nations represent an attractive – and growing – market for consumer goods and services. Years of consistently high GDP growth has fuelled the growth of per capita disposable income over 2004 to 2008, to 13.6% per annum in Brazil, 28.1% per annum in Russia, 16.6% in India, 17% in China, says Euromonitor International. And with more money than ever before in their pockets, BRIC consumers are spending up large. From 2004 to 2008, consumer spending grew at a compound 19.6% per annum in Brazil, 18.4% in Russia, 9.0% in India and 13.5% in China, respectively. The increase in consumer spending is reflected in the contribution of retail sales to GDP in each nation (Figure 1 below).

The BRIC nations will account for 13% of world retail sales by 2011, according to Euromonitor International, up from 11.4% in 2006 and 2.4% in 2001 – and the increase in demand for goods and services has now expanded beyond mass market products to high-priced, luxury goods and services as a brand conscious middle class emerges in each nation.

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