JAKARTA — One stereotype of Asian cities such as Jakarta and Manila is a stark juxtaposition between sprawling slums and gleaming shopping malls stocked with luxury goods — an image with some accuracy, going by a new World Bank report. About 250 million people live in slums across the East Asia Pacific region, which does not include India, the report found, even as the number of billionaires rose 30% per year from 2002 to 2014. Income inequality has risen across the region, chiefly driven by the growing rich-poor divide in Indonesia and China, according to data in Riding the Wave: An East Asian miracle for the 21st Century, a World Bank report released Monday.The findings suggest Asia’s continued high economic growth is less effective in curbing poverty than in past decades. “Income inequality is high or rising in most countries,” the report said.
Asia Pacific’s rich-poor gap widens fastest in China, Indonesia – Nikkei Asian Review
