Dynamics of the Middle Class in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to analyze the dynamics of the middle class in the DRC. It is based on a pseudo-panel corrected for statistical pitfalls from two waves of surveys on employment, the informal sector and household consumption, organized by the DRC's National Institute of Statistics in 2005 and 2012. From the analyzes carried out, it emerges that households identified as being part of the middle class were placed in the category known as the 'lower middle class'. In its evolution, the middle class has not undergone any significant expansion. Overall, this dynamic loses 2 percentage points and this is significantly observed in rural areas. In addition, a contrasting trend emerged at the level of the provinces. Only 11 provinces out of 26 have experienced significant growth in the middle class in 7 years. On the other hand, the dynamics of the middle class is not positive in 9 provinces, both in the lower middle class and in the upper middle class. The profiling carried out allows us to conclude that household characteristics such as the education of the head of household, the size of the household, its occupation status on the labor market and its socio-professional status have contributed to the dynamics of the middle class in the DRC.