What the mushrooming of paid laundry services reveals about Nepal’s rising middle class

Although seemingly innocuous, the proliferation of laundry services can be seen as an indicator of economic growth.

The EVs get all the attention on Nepali streets, but something humbler is multiplying alongside them—the laundry service. Flex boards advertising one are now hard to miss in Kathmandu and increasingly beyond it. Although a seemingly innocuous detail, the proliferation of laundry services can be read as an indicator of economic growth.