Alliance · Economic club

BRICS

BRICS is a group of 10 large emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. It has no treaty, no headquarters and no common defense. Its leaders meet once a year and push for poorer countries to get a bigger say in bodies like the IMF and the World Bank. The members have 48% of the world's people and 27% of its economy.

Updated October 2026 · Members and partners from the 2026 chair, India

Leaders and envoys at the BRICS summit in New Delhi, September 2026. Photo: Prime Minister's Office of India, GODL-India.

Members: 10; Indonesia joined last, in 2025
Partner countries: 10; A step below membership
People: 3.9 billion; 48% of the world
Economy: $31.7tn; 27% of the world's, 2025
Chair in 2026: India; China takes over in 2027

Which countries are in BRICS?

Ten. Brazil, Russia, India and China held their first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009. China invited South Africa in December 2010, and it came to its first summit in April 2011. In August 2023, at Johannesburg, the group invited six more countries to join from January 1, 2024. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE joined. Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, turned the invitation down. Indonesia joined on January 6, 2025.

Saudi Arabia was invited in 2023 too. It has never confirmed joining, and its delegations take part as an "invited country." India, the 2026 chair, counts it as an 11th member; this page does not. At the Kazan summit in October 2024, BRICS created a lower tier of partner countries. Ten have joined it, from Belarus and Kazakhstan to Nigeria, Cuba and Vietnam. Partners attend summits and can sign the declarations, but only the members decide.

World map. The 10 BRICS members are blue: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. The 10 partner countries, from Belarus and Kazakhstan to Nigeria, Cuba and Vietnam, are dark blue. Saudi Arabia, invited in 2023, and Turkey, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which applied, are sand.

Where does the name BRICS come from?

From a bank research paper. On November 30, 2001, Jim O'Neill, an economist at Goldman Sachs, published "Building Better Global Economic BRICs." He argued that Brazil, Russia, India and China would grow faster than the G7 and that the G7 should make room for them. He did not propose a bloc of their own.

O'Neill later served as a minister in Britain's Treasury, in 2015 and 2016. He has said he never meant BRICS to become a political club. In October 2024 he wrote that the grouping "serves no real purpose beyond generating symbolic gestures and lofty rhetoric." When South Africa joined in 2011, he said he did not acknowledge the S, because its economy was far smaller than the other four. Goldman Sachs closed its own BRIC fund in 2015, after the money in it had fallen 88% from its 2010 peak.

From BRIC to BRICS

2001Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill coins the name
2006Four foreign ministers meet at the UN in New York
2009First summit, in Yekaterinburg, Russia
2011South Africa joins; BRIC becomes BRICS
2015New Development Bank opens in Shanghai
2024Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE join; Kazan creates partner countries
2025Indonesia joins; ten countries become partners

Is BRICS bigger than the G7?

In people, by far. BRICS members have 3.9 billion people, five times the G7's 790 million. In money, no. At market exchange rates the G7's economies were worth $52.5 trillion in 2025, against $31.7 trillion for BRICS. China alone makes up 62% of the BRICS economy.

Measured at purchasing power parity, which adjusts for lower prices in poorer countries, BRICS is the larger of the two. By the IMF's April 2026 figures, the 10 members had about 39% of the world's economy at parity in 2025 and the G7 had 28%. At parity, China is about as big as the other nine members combined.

BRICS and the G7, share of the world

BRICS
G7

People, 2025

3.94 billion · 48%

790 million · 9.6%

Economy, 2025

$31.7tn · 27%

$52.5tn · 45%

Military spending, 2025

$668bn · 23%

$1.37tn · 47%

People: UN. Economy: GDP at market exchange rates, IMF. Military spending: SIPRI, as a share of its world total of $2.9 trillion. BRICS counts its 10 members, without Saudi Arabia. Military spending leaves out Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates, which have no figure.

Does BRICS have its own currency?

No. The declarations of the Kazan (2024), Rio (2025) and New Delhi (2026) summits back trade in members' own currencies, but none creates a common currency. Brazil's President Lula asked in April 2023 why all countries have to base their trade on the dollar. Russia, hit by Western sanctions in 2022, pushed for a shared BRICS payment system while it chaired the group in 2024. India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said in December 2024 that "India has never been for de-dollarisation."

President Trump threatened 100% tariffs in November 2024 if BRICS created a currency. In July 2025 he threatened an extra 10% on any country "aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS." He never imposed it. The five founders' currencies all begin with R: the real, rouble, rupee, renminbi and rand.

New Development BankSince 2015

Based in Shanghai. Its board had approved about $43 billion for 139 projects by the end of 2025, mostly for transport, clean energy and water. Brazil's former president Dilma Rousseff has led it since 2023.
Contingent Reserve ArrangementNever used

$100 billion the five founders promised to lend each other through currency swaps in a crisis, since 2015. No money is pooled, and no member has ever drawn on it.
BRICS PayIn pilot

A payments project backed by the BRICS Business Council. In September 2026 it was still in pilot and not working for all members.
A BRICS currencyDoes not exist

Discussed at summits, but no BRICS declaration has endorsed one and no member has agreed to give up its own money.

Is BRICS a military alliance?

No. BRICS has no treaty, no charter, no secretariat and no promise to defend its members. It decides by consensus. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hosting the 2026 summit, said "BRICS is not against anyone."

The 2026 Iran war showed how far apart members can be. Since the war began on February 28, 2026, Iran has struck the UAE, a fellow member, more than any other country. Two BRICS meetings in New Delhi, in April and May 2026, ended without a joint statement. On August 19, 2026, the UAE halted all trade with Iran. At the September summit both countries signed a declaration calling for "maximum restraint" that named no country.

Is it in BRICS?

Short answers for the countries people ask about most.

Is Saudi Arabia in BRICS?

Invited

Invited in August 2023. It has never confirmed joining and takes part as an "invited country." India, the 2026 chair, counts it as a member.

Is Turkey in BRICS?

Applied in September 2024, the first NATO member to apply. It was offered partner status and never took it up.

Is Indonesia in BRICS?

Yes

Since January 6, 2025. It is the newest member.

Is Argentina in BRICS?

Invited in August 2023. President Javier Milei turned the invitation down that December.

Is Nigeria in BRICS?

Partner

A partner country since January 17, 2025, a step below full membership.

Is Pakistan in BRICS?

Applied in November 2023. New members need every member's agreement, including India's.

Is Egypt in BRICS?

Yes

Since January 1, 2024, together with Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE.

Is Venezuela in BRICS?

Brazil blocked its bid to become a partner country at the Kazan summit in October 2024.

Is Mexico in BRICS?

It has not applied or been invited. Mexico's foreign minister attended the 2025 Rio summit as an observer.

Is Vietnam in BRICS?