Forecasting cluster shifts

As the global economy recovers, some emerging markets are likely to grow faster than traditional economic powers and there will be a general shift of industry clusters from developed to developing countries. These shifts are apparent in accelerating capital flows, fundamental demographic changes and the rise of state capitalism. A PwC report maps future global clusters across five sectors?pharma, auto assembly, asset management, films and entertainment, and tertiary education. It concludes that Mumbai will continue to be the second biggest cluster in filmed entertainment though Hollywood would retain the top position till 2040. Currently, Bollywood produces more movies than Hollywood but a majority of these are not major international releases. Mumbai is growing as a producer of major international films,while the large number of regional languages has prompted the development of regional film clusters.

For pharma and asset management, Asian clusters are rising but developed clusters will continue to retain the top position. For tertiary education, clusters in developed economies will remain significantly ahead of those in developing countries in the medium to long term. New York, London and Boston will remain the principal clusters due to quality universities. In auto assembly, Tainjin, Nanjing and Sao Paulo may rise to be amongst the world?s largest by 2040 and the growth of the middle classes in China, India and South America will add millions of car owners to the world market between now and 2040. In asset management, the existing large clusters in New York, London and Boston would be joined by Singapore, which may become the leading cluster in the Asian region. In the pharma industry, Shanghai will grow to become one of the world?s most significant clusters.