From Xinhua via China.org.cn:
China will overtake Japan, Germany, Britain and Italy to become the world’s second biggest consumer goods market behind the United States by 2015, according to the findings of a survey by Credit Suisse, one of the world’s leading investment banks.
The Swiss-based bank estimates that Chinese consumption will account for 14.1 percent of the total consumption among major economies in 2015, while the US consumption will account for 37.7 percent.
Credit Suisse classifies major economies as the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy, France, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Republic of Korea, Australia, India and Russia.
China’s consumption accounted for 5.4 percent of total consumption out of the major economies in 2006, ranking joint fifth with Italy, with the United States at 42 percent, Japan 11.1 percent, Germany 7.3 percent and Britain 6.6 percent, according to Vincent Chan, Head of China Research with Credit Suisse. [Full Text]
