This research was led by Chris Bradley, director of the McKinsey Global Institute and a senior partner of McKinsey & Company in Sydney; Sven Smit, director and chairman of MGI and a senior partner in Amsterdam; Jonathan Woetzel, director of MGI and a senior partner in Shanghai, and Marc Canal, an MGI engagement manager in Barcelona.

Mekala Krishnan, an MGI partner in Boston, and Tilman Tacke, an MGI partner in Munich, contributed to the research, and Mr. Canal led the MGI project team, which included Carolyne Barker, Jérôme Heymans, Ruth Hütte, Regina Israel Atance, Ekaterina Kruglova, Maciej Latocha, Benjamin Meindl, Jali Packer, Faustine Rosoor, Nicolai Sprenger, and Maricruz Vargas.

We also thank Jon Lo and Yohan Iddawela, co-founder and executive director of 505 Economics, respectively, and the 505 Economics team that supported the design and development of our datasets on GDP, population, and life expectancy.

We are grateful to the following advisers, who challenged our thinking and added new insights: Andrés Rodriguez-Pose, Princesa de Asturias Chair and professor of economic geography at the London School of Economics; David M. Cutler, Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard University; Catherine Boone, professor of African political economy and Program Director, African Development Department of International Development at the London School of Economics; Shlomo Angel, professor of city planning, The Marron Institute of Urban Management at New York University; Ha-Joon Chang, research professor of economics in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London; and Rakesh Mohan, president and distinguished fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress.

This project benefited immensely from the expertise and perspectives of many McKinsey colleagues. Thanks go to Tera Allas, José Álvares, Daniel Burssa, Kanmani Chockalingam, Erica Coe, Martin Dewhurst, Adrian Grad, Lars Hartenstein, Diaan-Yi Lin, Tomasz Maczynski, Clarisse Magnin, Daphne Maurel, Francisco Mendes, Adrian Mertens, Bruna Neto, Jurica Novak, Peter Okebukola, Kemi Onabanjo, Lorenzo Pautasso, Erik Rong, Mário Rui Pires, Adam Sabow, Rachel Schaff, Jorg Schubert, Vivien Singer, and Sunny Sun.

This report was edited and produced by MGI senior editor Stephanie Strom, together with senior data visualization editor Chuck Burke, editorial operations manager Vasudha Gupta, and senior graphic designer Patrick White. We also thank our colleagues Gitanjali Bakshi, David Batcheck, Tim Beacom, Nienke Beuwer, Jeffrey Condon, Amanda Covington, Ashley Grant, Cathy Gui, Moira Pierce, and Rebeca Robboy for their support.

We are indebted to McKinsey Global Publishing for designing and developing the interactives that make this narrative come alive. Nayomi Chibana led the development of this interactive experience with support from Sean Conrad, Dan Spector, and Amy Swan. They worked in collaboration with Zachary Enco, Stephen Landau, and Diane Rice.

Steve Lackey, executive managing producer, and Guy Davis, production manager at Spot Films, oversaw production of the video that accompanies our narrative.

Additionally, we thank Max Gleischman, global director of communications, reputation risk, and Janet Michaud, head of publishing design and digital storytelling.

This research contributes to our mission to help business and policy leaders understand the forces transforming the global economy. As with all MGI research, it is independent and has not been commissioned or sponsored in any way by any business, government, or other institution.