BRICS Summits
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BRICS is an
intergovernmental organization Globalization is social change associated with increased connectivity among societies and their elements and the explosive evolution of transportation and telecommunication technologies to facilitate international cultural and economic exchange. ...
comprising ten countries
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
. The idea of a BRICS-like group can be traced back to Russian foreign minister
Yevgeny Primakov Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (29 October 1929 – 26 June 2015, ) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to ...
and to the two forums RIC (Russia, India, China) and IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa). BRIC was originally a term coined by British economist Jim O'Neill and later championed by his employer
Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
in 2001 to designate the group of emerging markets. The first summit in 2009 featured the founding countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, where they adopted the
acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
BRIC and formed an informal diplomatic club where their governments could meet annually at formal summits and coordinate multilateral policies. In April 2010, South Africa attended the
2nd BRIC summit The 2010 BRIC summit took place in Brasília, Brazil on April 15, 2010. This was the second BRIC summit after Yekaterinburg in 2009. The meeting took place between the four heads of government from the BRIC states following bilateral meetings i ...
as a guest. In September 2010 they joined the organization which was then renamed BRICS, and attended the
3rd BRICS summit The 2011 BRICS summit ( zh, c=金砖国家领导人第三次会晤) took place in Sanya on the island of Hainan, China, on 14 April 2011. This was the third BRICS summit since 2009 and the first to formally include South Africa after its access ...
in 2011 as a full member. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates attended their first summit as member states in 2024 in Russia. Indonesia officially joined as a member state in early 2025, becoming the first
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n member. The acronym BRICS+ (in its expanded form BRICS Plus) has been informally used to reflect new membership since 2024. Some in the West consider BRICS institutions an alternative to institutions such as those led by nations of the G7 bloc, which are among the world's leading economies. Others describe the grouping as an incoherent joining of countries around increasing anti-Western and
anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...
objectives. Together BRICS has implemented competing initiatives such as the
New Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). According to the agreement, "the bank shal ...
, the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement, BRICS PAY, the BRICS Joint Statistical Publication and the BRICS basket reserve currency. In its first 15 years BRICS has established almost 60 intra-group institutions, and think tanks to dialogues, covering agenda in 34 subjects. The original five members and
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
are also part of the
G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...
. BRICS has received both praise and criticism from numerous commentators and world leaders.


History


Founding

Collective action in the political arena in the late 1990s was present before the economic rationale of BRICS. The idea of a multipolar group like BRICS can be traced back to
Yevgeny Primakov Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (29 October 1929 – 26 June 2015, ) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to ...
during his term as
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
of Russia. He reiterated the idea in New Delhi in 1998. The forums RIC (Russia, India, China) and IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) predated and played an important role in the creation of BRIC and subsequently BRICS. The term '' BRIC'', as compared to the alternate term ''CRIB'', was originally developed in the context of foreign investment strategies. It was introduced in the 2001 publication, ''Building Better Global Economic BRICs'' by Jim O'Neill, then head of global economics research at
Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
and later Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. O'Neill now regards the BRICS group as a failed project. In a 2021 article for ''
Project Syndicate ''Project Syndicate'' is an international nonprofit media organization that publishes and syndicates commentary and analysis on a variety of global topics. All opinion pieces are published on the ''Project Syndicate'' website, and also distribu ...
'' he wrote that the BRICS countries "have so far proven incapable of uniting as a meaningful global force" and felt in 2024 that "each year also brings further confirmation that the grouping serves no real purpose beyond generating symbolic gestures and lofty rhetoric". The
foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
s of the initial four BRIC states (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) met in New York City in September 2006 at the margins of the General Debate of the UN Assembly, beginning a series of high-level meetings. A full-scale diplomatic meeting was held in
Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...
, Russia, on 16 June 2009. The BRIC group's first formal summit, also held in Yekaterinburg, commenced on 16 June 2009, with
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
,
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...
,
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
, and
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...
, the respective leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, all attending. The summit's focus was on improving the global economic situation and reforming
financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...
s amid the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. There was also discussion of how the four countries could better cooperate in the future, and ways
developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...
, such as three-fourth of the BRIC members, could become more involved in global affairs. In the aftermath of the 2009 Yekaterinburg summit, the BRIC nations announced the need for a new global reserve currency, which would have to be "diverse, stable and predictable". Although their statement did not directly criticize the perceived dominance of the
US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
(as Russia had in the past) it did spark a fall in the value of the dollar against other major currencies.


2010 expansion

In 2010, South Africa began efforts to join BRIC, and the process for its formal admission began in August of that year. South Africa officially became a member nation on 24 December 2010 after being formally invited by China, and was subsequently accepted by other BRIC countries. The group was renamed ''BRICS'' to represent the addition of ''South Africa'' to the original four BRIC members. At the third BRICS summit in 2011 in
Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, also spelled Samah is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan, Hainan Province in Southeast China, South China. According to the Sixth National Populati ...
, China, South African president
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...
represented the country as a full member for the first time.


New Development Bank

In June 2012, the BRICS nations pledged $75 billion to boost the lending power of the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
(IMF). However, the proposed loan was conditional on IMF voting reforms. In March 2013, during the fifth BRICS summit in
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
, the member countries agreed to create a global financial institution to cooperate with the western-dominated IMF and World Bank. They planned to set up this
New Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). According to the agreement, "the bank shal ...
(known at the time as the "BRICS Development Bank") by 2014. At the BRICS leaders meeting in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
in September 2013, China committed $41 billion towards the pool; Brazil, India, and Russia $18 billion each; and South Africa $5 billion. China, which held the world's largest foreign exchange reserves and contributed the bulk of the currency pool, wanted a more significant managing role. China also wanted to be the location of the reserve. In October 2013, Russia's Finance Minister
Anton Siluanov Anton Germanovich Siluanov ( rus, Анто́н Ге́рманович Силуа́нов, p=ɐnˈton ˈɡʲɛrmənəvʲɪtɕ sʲɪlʊˈanəf; born 12 April 1963) is a Russian politician and economist. He has the federal state civilian service r ...
said that creating a $100 billion in funds designated to steady currency markets would be taken in early 2014. The Brazilian finance minister,
Guido Mantega Guido Mantega (; born 7 April 1949) is an Italian-born Brazilian economist and politician. Mantega served as Minister of Finance from 2006 to 2015 under the presidencies of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. His tenure as Ministe ...
, confirmed that the fund would be created by March 2014. However, by April 2014, the currency reserve pool and development bank had yet to be set up, and the date was rescheduled to 2015. In July 2014, during the sixth BRICS summit in
Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...
, the BRICS members signed a document to create the US$100 billion New Development Bank and a reserve currency pool worth over another US$100 billion. Documents on cooperation between BRICS export credit agencies and an agreement of cooperation on innovation were also signed. The Fortaleza summit was followed by a BRICS meeting with the
Union of South American Nations The Union of South American Nations (USAN), sometimes also referred to as the South American Union, abbreviated in Spanish as UNASUR and in Portuguese as UNASUL, is an intergovernmental regional organization. It was set up by Hugo Chavez to ...
presidents in
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
."BRICS to launch bank, tighten Latin America ties"
. Yahoo!. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015.


Other initiatives

Since 2011, the National Institutes of Statistics of the BRICS group of countries ( Institute of Geography and Statistics (Brazil),
Federal State Statistics Service The Federal State Statistics Service (, abbreviated as Rosstat) is the governmental statistics agency in Russia. Since 2017, it is again part of the Ministry of Economic Development, having switched several times in the previous decades betw ...
(Russia), the National Bureau of Statistics (China), the Central Statistics Office (India), and
Statistics South Africa Statistics South Africa (officially the Department of Statistics South Africa, and often shortened to Stats SA) is the national statistical service of South Africa. The Department has the goal of producing timely, accurate and official statistics ...
) produce an annual joint statistical publication to put statistical production in perspective, compare adopted methodologies and statistical results. The publication serves as a single data platform for the mutual benefit of participating countries. Since 2012, the BRICS group of countries has been planning an
optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...
submarine communications cable system to carry telecommunications between the BRICS countries, known as the BRICS Cable. Part of the motivation for the project was the spying of the U.S. National Security Agency on all telecommunications that flowed in and out of United States territory. Construction of the proposed cable network was abandoned in 2015, possibly due to cost. In August 2019, the communications ministers of the BRICS countries signed a letter of intent to cooperate in the Information and Communication Technology sector. This agreement was signed in the fifth edition of the meeting of communication ministers of countries member of the group held in
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
, Brazil. The
New Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). According to the agreement, "the bank shal ...
plans on giving out $15 billion to member states to help their struggling economies. Member countries are hoping for a smooth comeback and a continuation of economic trade pre-COVID-19. The 2020 BRICS summit was held virtually in St. Petersburg, Russia, and discussed how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and how to fix the multilateral system via reforms. During the 13th BRICS summit, in 2021, Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
called for a transparent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 under the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
with the full cooperation of "all countries", and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke directly afterwards, calling on BRICS countries to "oppose politicisation" of the process. In May 2023, South Africa announced that it would be giving
diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.
to Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials so that they could attend the 15th BRICS Summit despite the ICC arrest warrant for Putin. In July 2023, the Russian president announced that he would not personally attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on 22–24 August despite good relations with the South African government. Russian news channels noted that Putin would remotely participate online in all BRICS leaders' sessions, including its Business Forum, and also deliver his remarks virtually. In the first 15 years of BRICS, it produced hundreds of decisions and complied with a majority of them. BRICS has established almost 60 intra-group institutions and a network including think tanks and dialogues in various areas. The group has an agenda of over 30 subjects. These groups include: BRICS Business Council, BRICS Think Tanks Council, BRICS Women's Business Alliance, BRICS Business Forum, and the BRICS Academic Forum. At Kazan the establishment of a BRICS Deep-Sea Resources International Research Center and a BRICS Digital Ecosystem Cooperation Network was announced. In 2021 BRICS formally agreed to work together to build a satellite constellation and share remote sensing satellite data from this. The constellation will have six existing satellites from China, Russia and India. In 2023, Russia proposed that the other BRICS members could build a joint research station on its space station.


Discussions

BRICS has been involved in discussions related to areas of conflict and humanitarian crises such as Afghanistan, Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Haiti, Syria and Ukraine. NATO air strikes in Libya were discussed during the third summit. In 2023 South African chair President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the Gaza war. In 2024, a joint statement slamming Israel's attacks in Gaza was made by the foreign ministers of BRICS.


2024 expansion

In August 2023, at the 15th BRICS summit, South African President
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
announced that 6 emerging market group countries (Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) had been invited to join the bloc. Full membership was scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2024. However, the Argentine general election in November 2023 led to a change in president to
Javier Milei Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist who has served as President of Argentina since 2023. Milei also served as a national deputy representing the City of Buenos Aires for the party La Libertad ...
, who had committed to withdraw the country's membership application. On 30 November 2023, incoming Foreign Minister of Argentina
Diana Mondino Diana Elena Mondino (born 8 August 1958) is an Argentine economist, academic, and politician, formerly serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic from 2023 to 2024 under President Javier Milei. Mondino was previously t ...
confirmed that Argentina would not join the BRICS. On 29 December 2023 the Government of Argentina sent a letter to all BRICS leaders to officially announce its withdrawal from the application process. By January 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates joined the bloc making BRICS membership grow from five to nine countries, while Saudi Arabia delayed its membership. Saudi Arabia did not join BRICS at the start of 2024 as had been planned, and it announced in mid-January that it was still considering the matter. As of April 2024, the matter is still under consideration. The organizers touted the expansion as part of a plan to build a competing multipolar
world order In international relations, international order refers to patterned or structured relationships between actors on the international level. Definition David A. Lake, David Lake, Lisa Martin (political scientist), Lisa Martin and Thomas Risse d ...
that uses
Global South Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...
countries to challenge and compete against the western-dominated world order. ''
China Daily ''China Daily'' ( zh, s=中国日报, p=Zhōngguó Rìbào) is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any ...
'' used the expansion to claim that more developing countries were interested in joining BRICS. On 24 October 2024, an additional 13 countries, namely Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, were invited to participate as "partner countries". The partner status would allow these countries to engage with and benefit from BRICS initiatives. It is unclear whether the countries in this tier have received official membership invitations.


2025 expansion

On 6 January 2025, Indonesia joined BRICS officially as a full member, making it the first Southeast Asian state to join the bloc, as well as the 10th member of BRICS. Jakarta's bid got the green light from the bloc in 2023, but the Southeast Asian country asked to join following the presidential election held in 2024. 2025's BRICS presidency leader and Brazil's Lula announced their official entry. Indonesia's history with the original BRIC members goes back to 2009, when some observers referred to a theorized grouping as "BRICI" given Indonesia's growing and stable economy and ties to India and China. The partnerships that were announced in the previous year, went into effect in January 2025 as well. Nigeria joined the partnership countries on 17 January.


Statistics

BRICS+ accounts for 46% of the world's population, and 25% of the world's landmass. The economy of the BRICS has risen by 356.27% between 1990 and 2019. In 2022, BRICS+ share of world GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) is 35.6%. Intra-BRICS trade was US$614.8 billion as of 2022. BRICS has 4,716 centi-millionaires and 549 billionaires. BRICS+ countries have over 1200 satellites in orbit. BRICS have 40 percent of existing internet users worldwide. In 2022, more than 87% of Russians use digital payments followed by China at 86%, and then South Africa at 81% and Brazil at 77%, and lastly India at 35%. Brazil, India, and China are among the world's ten largest countries by population,
area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...
, and gross domestic product (GDP, nominal and PPP). All five initial member states are members of the
G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...
, with a combined nominal GDP of
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
28 trillion (about 27% of the gross world product), a total GDP (PPP) of around US$65 trillion (35% of global GDP PPP), and an estimated US$5.2 trillion in combined foreign reserves (as of 2024). BRICS generated close to 32% of global economic output (GDP PPP) in 2022. The expanded BRICS+ generates 36% of global GDP. ATaking into account the GDP PPP of the BRICS+, China accounts for 52%. Economically the group represents $28.5 trillion. BRICS+ has a larger GDP than both the G7 and the EU. The share of the Chinese
renminbi The renminbi ( ; currency symbol, symbol: Yen and yuan sign, ¥; ISO 4217, ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB), also known as the Chinese yuan, is the official currency of the China, People's Republic of China. The renminbi is issued by the Peop ...
in total intra-BRICS trade transactions is about 47%. In 2017 BRICS accounted for 19% of global investment inflows. In 2024 the informality rate was 62% while the labour force participation was 60.8%. BRICS+ oil production is almost 30% of global oil output. BRICS contribute to 45% of the global agricultural products. BRICS countries produce 42% of the world's wheat, 52% of rice, and 46% of soybeans. According to
Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts ...
, the collective size of the economies of BRICS+ will overtake G7 after 2045. United States and United Kingdom have been the top two investors in the bloc in terms of FDI stock in 2020. Among the 10 wealthiest cities of the group, 5 are in China, 2 in UAE and India, and 1 in Russia. *Bold indicates has higher value compared to other.


Rotating BRICS presidency

Leaders' meetings (or leaders' summits) are held once a year on a rotating basis. The group at each summit elects one of the heads of state of the component countries to serve as President Pro Tempore of the BRICS. A number of ministerial meetings are held during the year, for example, between foreign ministers, finance ministers, central bank governors, trade ministers and energy ministers. Technical level meetings focus on project implementation and technical exchanges, such as the meeting of BRICS heads of national statistics offices. There are working groups on technology, culture, education, health etc. Specialized forums exist such as the BRICS Business Forum, and the BRICS Think Tank Council. The BRICS has neither a permanent seat or secretariat. In 2019, the President Pro Tempore position was held by the president of Brazil. The priorities of the Brazilian Pro Tempore Presidency for 2019 were the following: strengthening the cooperation in science, technology, and innovation, enhancement of the cooperation on digital economy, invigoration of cooperation on the fight against
transnational crime Transnational crimes are crimes that have actual or potential effect across national borders and crimes that are intrastate but offend fundamental values of the international community. The term is commonly used in the law enforcement and academic ...
—especially organized crime, money laundering, and drug trafficking, and rapprochement between the New Development Bank (NDB) and the BRICS Business Council. In 2024 BRICS President Pro Tempore was from Russia and their goals were: investing in BRICS countries to strengthen their economies, cooperating in the energy and environmental industries, helping with young children, and coming up with resolutions on migration and peacekeeping. Brazil has the current Pro Tempore Presidency in 2025.


Leaders’ Summits

The grouping has held annual summits since 2009, with member countries taking turns to host. Before South Africa's admission, two BRIC summits were held, in 2009 and 2010. The first five-member BRICS summit was held in 2011 in China. The first nine-member BRICS summit was held in 2024 in Russia. The 2020, 2021, and 2022 summits were held via video-conference due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Member states


List of current member states


Overview of BRICS members


Partner states


Application and expansion process

While there is currently no formal application process to join BRICS, any hopeful government must receive the unanimous backing of all member states to receive an invitation. It was not until the early 2020s that discussions regarding allowing new states to join the club were widely held. Leaders and senior diplomats from the participating members began to discuss the prospect of adding additional members to the organization at that point. In August 2023, at the 15th BRICS summit, South African President
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
announced that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had been invited to join the organization on 1 January 2024. Pakistan applied for membership in November 2023; Russian Deputy Prime Minister supported Pakistan's request, however support for Pakistan among BRICS has not been unanimous. On 30 December 2023, the new government of Argentina, which formally applied for BRICS membership under
Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...
's government in 2022, officially declined the offer to join the bloc due to the new government's different foreign policy. On 1 January 2024, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Iran officially joined the bloc. Saudi Arabia has not responded to an invitation to join BRICS, and is still considering joining. On 2 September 2024, Turkey officially applied to join the bloc. At the same time, Turkey has been a
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
member since 18 February 1952 and is also a European Union candidate country. Turkey's EU membership process started on 3 October 2005 but was frozen on 13 March 2019. In September 2022, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
announced that his country would apply for membership in the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian politics, political, economy, economic, international security and Defence (military), defence organization of ten member states. It was established in 2001 by the China, People's Republic ...
. On 11 July 2024, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in a statement to the U.S.
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
magazine that they did not consider Turkey's membership in NATO as an alternative to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS. Algeria previously applied for membership in 2023, but later rejected it in September 2024, making Algeria the second country after Argentina to decline and stop its application. Following the 2024 BRICS summit, Brazil blocked Venezuela's application to the bloc, largely due to the disputed 2024 Venezuelan elections and the Venezuelan crisis. The country in response recalled its ambassador from Brazil. Since new members joined the acronym used has informally been BRICS+, that is, BRICS Plus. Indonesia was originally intended to be an observer partner state but instead opted for full membership, which went into effect in January 2025.


Countries that have applied for membership


Financial architecture

The group is dominated by China, which has the largest share of the group's GDP, accounting to about 70% of the organization total. The financial architecture of BRICS is made of the
New Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). According to the agreement, "the bank shal ...
(NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). These components were signed into a treaty in 2014 and became active in 2015.


New Development Bank

The New Development Bank (NDB), formally referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, . Indiasnaps.com. 16 July 2014 is a
multilateral development bank An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to international law. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, alt ...
operated by the five BRICS states. The bank's primary focus of lending is infrastructure projects with authorized lending of up to $34 billion annually. South Africa hosts the African headquarters of the bank. The bank has a starting capital of $50 billion, with wealth increased to $100 billion over time. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa initially contributed $10 billion each to bring the total to $50 billion. As of 2020, it had 53 projects underway worth around $15 billion. By 2024 the bank had approved more than $32 billion for 96 projects. In 2021, Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay joined the NDB.


BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement

The BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) is a framework for protecting against global liquidity pressures. This includes currency issues where members' national currencies are being adversely affected by global financial pressures. Emerging economies that experienced rapid economic liberalization went through increased economic volatility, bringing an uncertain macroeconomic environment. The CRA competes with the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
(IMF). Along with the
New Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). According to the agreement, "the bank shal ...
, it is an example of increasing South-South cooperation. It was established in 2015 by the BRICS countries. The legal basis is formed by the ''Treaty for the Establishment of a BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement'', signed in Fortaleza in July 2014. With its inaugural meetings of the BRICS CRA Governing Council and Standing Committee, held on 4 September 2015, in Ankara, Turkey. It entered into force upon ratification by all BRICS states, announced at the 7th BRICS summit in July 2015.


BRICS payment system

At the 2015 BRICS summit in Russia, ministers from the BRICS states initiated consultations for a payment system that would be an alternative to the
SWIFT Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...
system. The stated goal was to initially move to settlements in national currencies. The
Central Bank of Russia The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (), commonly known as the Bank of Russia (), also called the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), is the central bank of the Russia, Russian Federation. The bank was established on 13 July 1990. It traces its ...
highlighted the main benefits as
backup In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "wikt:back ...
and redundancy in case there were disruptions to the SWIFT system. China also launched its alternative to SWIFT: the
Cross-Border Interbank Payment System The Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) is a Chinese payment system that offers clearing and settlement services for its participants in cross-border renminbi (RMB) payments and trade. CIPS is backed by the People's Bank of China an ...
, which enables
financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...
s worldwide to send and receive information about financial transactions. India also has its alternative Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS), as do Russia SPFS and Brazil Pix.


Potential common currency and BRICS Bridge

BRICS countries committed to study the feasibility of a new common currency or similar, at the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa. Fair and easier
international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...
, as well as a major reduction in costs of transactions, would be some of the reasons for the countries to forge a currency union. BRICS Bridge—a successor to MBridge, and probably a merger with BRICS PAY—makes it possible for central banks to support cross-border transactions and payments with their own
central bank digital currency A central bank digital currency (CBDC; also called digital fiat currency or digital base money) is a digital currency issued by a central bank, rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the central bank, unless it is dividend-y ...
(CBDC) based on an automatic
Cross-Border Interbank Payment System The Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) is a Chinese payment system that offers clearing and settlement services for its participants in cross-border renminbi (RMB) payments and trade. CIPS is backed by the People's Bank of China an ...
for settlement and clearance. It is designed to be independent of any single nation or central bank, and every central bank can opt out and has control of their CBDC exchange rate. One alternative for the currency name has been labelled as "R5" (from the five currencies renminbi, ruble, rupee, real, and rand), or with other multilateral. A symbolic banknote was unveiled during the 16th summit in Kazan, Russia.


Reception

World analysts have highlighted potential divisions and weaknesses in the grouping, including significant economic instabilities, disagreements among the members over
UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
reform, and India and China's disputes over territorial issues. There is scope for multilateralism in space, and collaboration in the space governance sector.
ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...
Director-General
Guy Ryder Guy Bernard Ryder (born 3 January 1956) is a British international civil servant who currently serves as Under-Secretary-General for Policy at the United Nations. He was previously Director-General of the International Labour Organization fro ...
has positively received joint declarations and statements of the Labour and Employment Ministers of the BRICS over the years. These statements cover decent work, social dialogue, green jobs, skills development, and workers' protection.


Belgium

Christian E. Rieck of the Global Governance Institute writes in October 2024 that China's relative power distribution in BRICS is "4+1". He notes how China has pushed for enlargement, while India and Brazil have wanted to maintain the group’s exclusive relationship with China as well as its non-western stance. According to Rieck, although BRICS supports multipolarity and non-alignment, it also does not take an explicitly anti-western stance. He also argues that BRICS' efforts to construct new financial architectures should not be actively challenged, as that will only be counter-productive, and that Europe should not feel threatened by BRICS. Alicia García-Herrero, who writes for the think tank Bruegel, argued that the West should note the anti-West sentiment developing amongst BRICS, and that the West needs to offer the Global South better economic deals. Reinhold Brender of the Egmont Institute wrote in November of 2024 that the pivot toward BRICS by a number of countries in the Global South, especially visible during the Kazan summit, should be a "wake-up call" for the EU. To address this, Brender argued that the EU should think beyond BRICS in relation to the Global South.


Brazil

In 2014 results of an opinion poll of 1881 respondents resulted in only 4% knowing what BRICS stood for; while in 2019 only 3% of 1849 respondents knew what the acronym stood for.


Canada

Alissa Wang, co-chair, summit studies, BRICS Research Group, University of Toronto, in a presentation prepared in July 2023, discusses that the possibility of BRICS becoming anti-western is not likely. The group consists of three democracies – Brazil, India, South Africa, and two non-democratic regimes – Russia, China, this political diversity limits the group uniting on an anti-western stance. Further a BRICS expansion would strengthen the group economically but political jointness could be negatively affected.


China

In 2012,
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...
, the then
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Part ...
and
President of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...
, described the BRICS countries as defenders and promoters of developing countries and a force for world peace. In March 2025, the government-affiliated think tank Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) published a report where they said that BRICS was not an anti-Western entity but a non-Western entity seeking a "just and reasonable post-Western order".


France

French President Emmanuel Macron sought to become the first western leader at a BRICS summit in 2023. Russia's Foreign Ministry stated that it would be "unsuitable" and that France's participation would not help BRICS reach the goals of developing countries in a multipolar world.


Germany

A
Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...
perspective from September 2013 notes how BRICS members, for the first time, with Russia as an exception, are really acting on an international level. German diplomat Reinhard Butikofer, following the announcement of the expansion of BRICS in 2023, stated that developing countries may turn to BRICS "if Europe fails to prove its reliability and credibility as a fair partner". A Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom policy paper explains that while the expansion of BRICS is a wake up call, the EU or Germany need not make any direct formal contact with BRICS until the goals of BRICS are officially defined. "Western-oriented BRICS countries ... should be more closely integrated into global governance."


India

In 2014, the Indian
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
author
Vijay Prashad Vijay Prashad (born 1967) is an Indian-born American, author, journalist, political commentator, and Marxism, Marxist intellectual."I came to Marxism against my self-interest. Born into affluence, I was raised in an revolutionary city (Calcutta, ...
raised the limitations of the BRICS as a political and economic "locomotive of the South" because they follow neoliberal policies. They have neither established new counter-balancing institutions nor come up with an alternative ideology. Furthermore, the BRICS project, argues Prashad, cannot challenge the primacy of the United States and
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
. Speaking at the BRICS summit in 2014, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
said that "reform of institutions of global governance ... has been on the BRICS agenda since its inception." In 2016
Brahma Chellaney Brahma Chellaney (born 18 January 1962) is an Indian geostrategist and columnist. He is a professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi; a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin ...
writes whether BRICS will be able to construct institutionalized structures including "institutionalized cooperation". He writes that BRICS is "the first important non-Western global initiative of the post-Cold War world". The
Sino-Indian border dispute The Sino–Indian border dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute over the sovereignty of two relatively large, and several smaller, separated pieces of territory between China and India. The territorial disputes between the two countries st ...
, for example during the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, has been a bilateral non-issue for BRICS. In another case where a BRICS summit acted as a "forcing event", the Doklam standoff in 2017, India stated that it may pull out of the 2017 BRICS Xiamen Summit, causing China to pull back its troops and India to attend the summit. During the 2023 BRICS summit China and India agreed to make efforts to address border issues. However, following the 2023 BRICS summit, China released a disputed map. Ashok Malik comments that amid new BRICS members and partners, India should ensure the group doesn't get an "distortionary ideological edge". In 2024, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has stated "because you won’t let us into the G7 club" with reference to India's participation in BRICS and the current trend of global governance for emerging economies and rising powers. The EAM also stated that G7 exists despite G20, so BRICS should also be allowed to exist. Prior to the Kazan summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that BRICS was never meant to be against anyone or be anti-western, and that it is only non-western. At the Kazan summit the Prime Minister stated "We must be careful to ensure that this organization does not acquire the image of one that is trying to replace global institutions". Indian diplomat Meera Shankar noted "the new payment systems discussed in BRICS are still in the exploratory phase and do not pose a challenge to the dominance of the US dollar in the medium term." The central bank of India,
Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...
, Governor
Shaktikanta Das Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is a retired People of India, Indian bureaucrat and Indian Administrative Service, IAS officer who served as the 25th List of Governors of Reserve Bank of India, governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Sinc ...
, stated in December 2024 that de-dollarisation for India was only a part of "derisking" Indian trade and reducing dependence on any one currency since that may become "problematic". While a BRICS currency had been raised by a member state, nothing specific was decided. He also compared the Euro, and stated how nations in Euro countries are located in close proximity while that is not the case of BRICS. This was in response to a question about President-elect Trump warning about tariffs. Former ambassador D. Bala Venkatesh Varma, in an interview with the think tank India Foundation, states that India's stance in BRICS is "pro-India" and "claiming that BRICS is dominated by China is an exaggeration".


Iran

Iran's admission as a member in 2023 has been touted by the country as a "strategic success". Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati, as president stated, "the global confidence in the effectiveness of BRICS is increasing". Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stated that Iran's membership will help in strengthening the multilateralism of BRICS.


Russia

In 2015, President Vladimir Putin stated that despite BRICS being a young organisation, it has already been effective. The five countries "are playing an active part in shaping a multipolar world order and developing modern models for the world’s financial and trading systems." In 2024, President Putin speaking at a BRICS forum said "BRICS is one of the key elements of the emerging multipolar world order, which increasingly reflects the interests and aspirations of the states of both the global South and the East ... we are engaged in an active dialogue in the BRICS plus/outreach format, and are working to establish a category of partner states". At the Kazan summit President Putin made clear that they are not attempting to reject the dollar, but rather getting ready with alternatives to a weaponized dollar. In a briefing in October 2024
Russian Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; , МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with leading the foreign policy and foreign relations of Russia. It is a continuation of the Ministry of Foreig ...
Spokeswoman said that "BRICS framework is non-confrontational and constructive", and that "it is a viable alternative to a world living by someone else's, alien rules". New members have made BRICS into a stronger representative of the "Global South and East – or the Global Majority". Applications from various countries reinforces BRICS role. President Putin quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in saying that BRICS is not anti-western but non-western. A poll following the Kazan summit revealed that 39% of 1500 respondents had never heard about BRICS. Among those who had heard of the summit, the informal visual of the BRICS currency banknote was polled as the most unforgettable happening. In 2025, Victoria Panova, Head of the BRICS Expert Council—Russia, has stated that while BRICS aims to make a fairer world order, it "doesn’t have an aim of expansion as an aim in itself." The aim isn't to duplicate the UN's Assembly General. In March 2025, President Putin has suggested that BRICS countries could be a part of the Ukraine peace process. According to Valdai Discussion Club's Dmitry Suslov in October 2024, there are many intra-BRICS disagreements. Firstly prior cooperation and current relationship with the West is a major factor in making decisions where BRICS countries are concerned. Secondly, the speed of decision making varies with respect to making changes in economic governance, say when it concerns a new currency or settlement mechanism. Third, bilateral relations between countries such as China and India, and Saudi Arabia and Iran, have not always been amicable.


Ukraine

In an October 2024 interview to The Times of India, President Zelensky said that the Kazan summit was a total failure. President Zelensky also criticized the presence of UN secretary general at the summit. The office of the UN secretary general clarified his participation, referring to BRICS' role "in boosting global co-operation".


United States

On 9 April 2013, Isobel Coleman, a director at the American think tank
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
, and later U.S. representative to the UN, claimed that the BRICS members share a lack of consensus. They uphold drastically different political systems, from vibrant liberal democracies in Brazil and South Africa to entrenched
oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or t ...
in Russia, and their economies are poorly integrated and differ in size by orders of magnitude. She also claimed that the significant difference in GDP influences the reserves: China accounts for over 41% of the contribution, which in turn leads to its bigger political say within the association. A multi-year study at
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
published in July 2023 found that the "common portrayal of BRICS as a China-dominated group primarily pursuing anti-U.S. agendas" was misplaced. The study asserted: "The BRICS countries connect around common development interests and a quest for a multipolar world order in which no single power dominates. Yet BRICS consolidation has turned the group into a potent negotiation force that now challenges Washington's geopolitical and economic goals". According to the
Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...
's Thomas Hill in December 2023, the de-dollarization efforts within BRICS, particularly in North Africa, present a significant challenge to US interests. Replacing the dollar could limit the US's ability to run deficits and maintain low interest rates, and undermine the effectiveness of US sanctions and
SWIFT Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...
. Michael Kugelman writes in BBC that "Brics projects meant to reduce reliance on the US dollar likely aren’t viable, because many member states’ economies cannot afford to wean themselves off of it."
White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...
and White House National Security Advisor have said that BRICS isn't seen as becoming a geopolitical rival. Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist who served as the 78th United States secretary of the treasury from 2021 to 2025. She also served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. She was the first woman to h ...
has largely dismissed BRICS efforts at dedollarisation. Following the announcement of the expansion of BRICS in 2023, the US National Security Advisor stated that it does not possess a "serious challenge". In November 2024 in a post on
Truth Social Truth Social (stylized as TRUTH) is an alt-tech social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), an American media and technology company majority-owned by U.S. president Donald Trump. It has been called a "Twitter clone" ...
, United States president-elect
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
threatened a 100% United States tariff on countries that pursued a BRICS currency or moved to favor another currency instead of the U.S. dollar. As US president he announced the same on his first day in office during his second term. On 31 January 2025, President Trump posted on Truth Social to "go find another sucker Nation" with respect to BRICS. In February 2025, in a press briefing, he stated that "BRICS is dead". He went on to say that BRICS is silent following his "150%" tariff threat.
Joseph Nye Joseph Samuel Nye Jr. (January 19, 1937 – May 6, 2025) was an American political scientist. He and Robert Keohane co-founded the international relations theory of neoliberalism, which they developed in their 1977 book ''Power and Interdepe ...
writes in January 2025 that BRICS, "as a means of escaping diplomatic isolation, it is certainly useful to Russia"; the same goes for Iran. Nye writes that the expansion of the BRICS could bring in more "intra-organizational rivalries", limiting the groups' effectiveness. Melissa Pistilli writes that at the 2024 BRICS summit President Putin seemed to back away from "aggressive calls for de-dollarization ..but rather to deter the "weaponization" of the US dollar".


United Kingdom

After the August 2023 BRICS Summit, Con Coughlin—defense and foreign affairs editor at ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''—claimed "the challenge BRICS presents to the established world order seems destined to failure" and accused the organization of being used by China as a vehicle for expanding its global influence. Coughlin also noted the contradictions within the organization, such as the border dispute between China and India, and called for greater Western engagement with India as part of a new strategic alliance. In 2024, Jim O'Neill comments the grouping merely generates rhetoric and symbolism.


Global opinion

According to a
Gallup International The Gallup International Association (GIA) is an association of opinion poll, polling organizations based in Zurich, Switzerland. The Gallup International Association was founded in 1947 in Loxwood Hall, Sussex, UK. George Gallup, George H. Gallup ...
poll conducted between October and December 2023, almost a third of people around the world had never heard of BRICS but
Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...
were much more negative towards the alliance than elsewhere. The most negative attitudes were found in Sweden (45%), Spain (30%), the USA (30%), Portugal (29%), and Ukraine (29%) while the most positive net attitudes were in Russia (38%), Iran (37%), Nigeria (36%), Saudi Arabia (33%) and Malaysia (32%). In India, 36% had a positive view of BRICS while 29% had a negative view.


Current leaders

Current leading member state representatives:


See also

* * * * * * * * * * * BRICS PAY *
G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...
* Member states of BRICS *
Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...
*
OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...
* List of BRICS summit attendees *
List of country groupings Groups of countries or regions are often referred to by a single term (word, phrase, or abbreviation). The origins of such terms include political alliances, intergovernmental organizations, business market areas, and mere colloquialism. ...
* BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement * BRICS Universities League


Notes


References


Further reading

Secondary sources * * * * * * * Primary sources
BRICS Joint Statistical Publication 2024ArchiveTowards a long-term strategy for BRICS. A proposal by the BRICS Think Tanks CouncilArchiveBRICS Membership Expansion Guiding Principles, Standards, Criteria and ProceduresArchiveBRICS Economic Bulletin 2024ArchiveBRICS Economic Bulletin 2023ArchiveBRICS Economic Bulletin 2021ArchiveBRICS Cooperation Outcomes2021ArchiveBRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan 2021Archive


Declarations

* * * * *


BRICS Academic Review

* * * *


External links

* *
BRICS information portal
a Joint website of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the BRICS member States


BRICS Information Centre. University of Toronto


Journals


BRICS Law Journal

Journal of BRICS Studies

BRICS Journal of Economics
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