What are emerging markets?

Emerging markets are countries with active and liquid equity markets that are transitioning towards a more advanced, industrialized, and technologically sophisticated economy, with faster growth and increasingly robust institutions.

Emerging markets are a subset of emerging economies that have liquid equity markets of sufficient size to be included in indices provided by major index providers like MSCI.

Emerging markets have changed rapidly in the past two decades, now generating two-thirds of global GDP growth, and are leading innovation in strategic sectors. Countries like China, Korea, Taiwan and India have become key to the supply chains in semiconductors, AI hardware, autos and renewable energy.

In equity markets, one of the most widely used classifications is the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which groups large and mid cap stocks across major emerging economies. As of data updated to the end of March 2026, MSCI EM includes 24 countries:

  • Americas: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru.

  • Europe/Middle East/Africa: Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Qatar, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates.

  • Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand.


These index classifications are index provider constructs rather than formal economic definitions, but they anchor how most global investors talk about and allocate to emerging markets. Emerging markets are characterized by a high degree of dispersion – in the level of development, the institutional framework, economic policy, level of reliance on natural resources and political culture. This heterogeneity creates a fertile environment for active management.

Robeco emerging markets equities strategies aim to beat the performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets index by leveraging this performance dispersion. Portfolio managers approach this by making discretionary decisions about which equities to own based on country selection and individual company fundamental analysis, complemented by quantitative models.

Emerging markets equities are still relatively small in terms of market capitalization compared to developed markets. For example, in the MSCI All World index, which includes more than 2,500 companies from 23 developed markets (MSCI World) and 24 emerging markets (MSCI EM) in a single large and mid cap index, emerging markets account for around 11–12% of market capitalization at the end of March 2026.

See also

Emerging Markets ETF
Emerging economies

Discover emerging opportunities

Discover emerging opportunities by investing in the diverse and fast-growing dynamics of emerging markets.

Emerging markets investing

More glossary terms

Let's keep the conversation going

Keep track of fast-moving events in sustainable and quantitative investing, trends and credits with our newsletters.

Don’t miss out

Robeco aims to enable its clients to achieve their financial and sustainability goals by providing superior investment returns and solutions.

Important information This disclaimer applies to any documents and the verbal or written comments of any person in presentations or webinars on this website and taken together is referred to herein as the “Information”. The services to which the Information relate are NOT FOR RETAIL CLIENTS - The information contained in the Website is solely intended for professional investors, defined as investors which (1) qualify as professional clients within the meaning of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), (2) have requested to be treated as professional clients within the meaning of the MiFID or (3) are authorized to receive such information under any other applicable laws and must not be relied or acted upon by any other persons. This Information does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any financial product, and may not be relied upon in connection with the purchase or sale of any financial product. You are cautioned against using this Information as the basis for making a decision to purchase any financial product. To the extent that you rely on the Information in connection with any investment decision, you do so at your own risk. The Information does not purport to be complete on any topic addressed. The Information may contain data or analysis prepared by third parties and no representation or warranty about the accuracy of such data or analysis is provided.
In all cases where historical performance is presented, please note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results and should not be relied upon as the basis for making an investment decision. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested. Neither Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. nor any of its affiliates guarantees the performance or the future returns of any investments. If the currency in which the past performance is displayed differs from the currency of the country in which you reside, then you should be aware that due to exchange rate fluctuations the performance shown may increase or decrease if converted into your local currency. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (“Robeco”) expressly prohibits any redistribution of the Information without the prior written consent of Robeco. The Information is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use is contrary to law, rule or regulation. Certain information contained in the Information includes calculations or figures that have been prepared internally and have not been audited or verified by a third party. Use of different methods for preparing, calculating or presenting information may lead to different results. Robeco Institutional Asset Management UK Limited (“RIAM UK”) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. RIAM UK, 30 Fenchurch Street, Part Level 8, London EC3M 3BD (FCA Reference No:1007814). The company is registered in England and Wales under Ref No. 15362605.

In all cases where historical performance is presented, please note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results and should not be relied upon as the basis for making an investment decision. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested. Neither Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. nor any of its affiliates guarantees the performance or the future returns of any investments. If the currency in which the past performance is displayed differs from the currency of the country in which you reside, then you should be aware that due to exchange rate fluctuations the performance shown may increase or decrease if converted into your local currency. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (“Robeco”) expressly prohibits any redistribution of the Information without the prior written consent of Robeco. The Information is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use is contrary to law, rule or regulation. Certain information contained in the Information includes calculations or figures that have been prepared internally and have not been audited or verified by a third party. Use of different methods for preparing, calculating or presenting information may lead to different results. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. is authorised as a manager of UCITS and AIFs by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and subject to limited regulation in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.