ORBIS

Alliance · Economic club

G20

Group of Twenty

The G20 is a club of 19 large economies, the European Union and the African Union. Its finance ministers have met since 1999 and its leaders since 2008. The 19 countries have 58% of the world's people and 78% of its economy (2025). It has no charter, headquarters or staff. The United States chairs it in 2026 and has barred South Africa from its meetings.

Updated October 2026 · Members and summits from the G20 Research Group, University of Toronto

Leaders of the G20 and invited countries stand on blue steps in front of a row of national flags, under a sign reading G20 Italia 2021 and People, Planet, Prosperity
Leaders at the G20 summit in Rome, October 30, 2021. Photo: Alan Santos, Presidency of Brazil, CC BY 2.0.
Members
21
19 countries, the EU and the AU
Leaders' summits
Since 2008
Miami is the 21st
People
4.8 billion
58% of the world, 2025
Economy
$91.9tn
78% of the world's, 2025
Chair in 2026
United States
Summit in Miami, December 14-15

Which countries are in the G20?

Nineteen countries are members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union has been a member from the start, and the African Union joined in September 2023. The G20 grew out of the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and 1998. On April 27, 1999, Canada's finance minister, Paul Martin, and Larry Summers, then US deputy treasury secretary, sketched a first list of members on a brown manila envelope. Martin later said: "I would love to say we sat down and ran the numbers on whose GDP was bigger, but we didn't."

G7 finance ministers created the G20 on September 25, 1999, and its finance ministers first met in Berlin that December. The founders rejected the name "G-19", fearing it would invite more members.

World map. The 19 G20 member countries are blue: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, India, China, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Australia. Spain, a permanent guest, is dark blue. Poland, which wants to join, is sand.
  • Member
  • Wants to join
  • Permanent guest
  • Not a member

The 19 member countries, plus the European Union and the African Union

Is the G20 the 20 largest economies?

Only 17 of the 19 member countries were among the world's 20 largest economies in 2025. Argentina was 25th and South Africa 40th. Three non-members were in the top 20: Spain (12th), the Netherlands (18th) and Switzerland (20th). Poland, Taiwan, Belgium and Ireland also had larger economies than Argentina.

The founders chose members for political reasons. With four European countries already in through the G7, other European countries were ruled out, and the EU was meant to speak for them. Argentina was picked over Chile as "a bigger player". South Africa was the only African country chosen. The G20 has no written rule for adding members. Poland is campaigning to join, and the United States backed its bid in April 2026.

The 25 largest economies, 2025

Full ranking →
  1. United States$30.77tn
  2. China$19.63tn
  3. Germany$5.05tn
  4. Japan$4.44tn
  5. United Kingdom$4.00tn
  6. India$3.92tn
  7. France$3.37tn
  8. Russia$2.59tn
  9. Italy$2.55tn
  10. Canada$2.32tn
  11. Brazil$2.28tn
  12. Spain$1.90tn
  13. South Korea$1.87tn
  14. Australia$1.84tn
  15. Mexico$1.83tn
  16. Turkey$1.60tn
  17. Indonesia$1.45tn
  18. Netherlands$1.33tn
  19. Saudi Arabia$1.28tn
  20. Switzerland$1.04tn
  21. Poland$1.04tn
  22. Taiwan$0.92tn
  23. Belgium$0.72tn
  24. Ireland$0.72tn
  25. Argentina$0.68tn
  • G20 member
  • Permanent guest
  • Wants to join
  • Not a member
GDP at market exchange rates, IMF. South Africa, a member, is 40th.

Why is South Africa left out of the G20 in 2026?

The United States, which chairs the G20 in 2026, has not invited South Africa. South Africa hosted the first G20 summit in Africa, in Johannesburg on November 22 and 23, 2025. President Trump boycotted it, claiming that Afrikaners "are being killed and slaughtered". South Africa's government and human rights experts reject the claim. The other leaders adopted their declaration at the start of the summit rather than the end. Argentina did not back it.

South Africa then refused to hand the presidency to a junior US diplomat. On November 26, 2025, Trump said South Africa would "NOT be receiving an invitation" to the 2026 G20. A US notice of December 4 barred it from every meeting that year. South Africa is still a member. Only Russia has objected in public. South Africa expects to return in 2027, when the United Kingdom hosts the summit in Manchester.

South Africa and the G20

  1. 1999Founding member, the only African country chosen
  2. 2025Hosts the first G20 summit in Africa
  3. 2025The United States boycotts the summit
  4. 2025Trump says South Africa will not be invited to the 2026 G20
  5. 2026Barred from every US-hosted G20 meeting
  6. 2027Expects to return under the United Kingdom

What has the G20 done?

The G20's biggest moment came during the 2008 financial crisis. At the London summit on April 2, 2009, hosted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the leaders promised $1.1 trillion to restore credit, growth and jobs. The G20 works by consensus. Its decisions do not bind anyone.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, agreeing has become harder. At Bali in 2022 the leaders' declaration said "most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine" but noted "other views". At New Delhi in 2023 they recalled only their "national positions". In September 2026 the finance ministers could not agree a joint text, because China objected to four paragraphs, so the United States issued it as the chair's statement.

  • Crisis package$1.1 trillion

    Agreed in London in April 2009: mostly more money for the IMF, plus development bank lending and trade finance. Critics said less than half was new money.

  • Financial Stability BoardSince 2009

    It coordinates the regulators who tightened bank rules after the 2008 crash. In 2011 it named 29 banks as too important to fail.

  • Pause on debt payments2020 to 2021

    During the pandemic, 48 poor countries postponed about $13 billion of debt payments to governments. The money must still be repaid.

  • Debt restructuringSlow

    Chad, Ethiopia, Zambia and Ghana used the G20's 2020 framework for restructuring debts. Zambia's case took more than three and a half years.

  • Minimum tax on big companies15%

    136 countries agreed it in October 2021 through the OECD and the G20. Since 2026, US-based companies are exempt from two of its main rules.

What is the G20 doing in 2026?

The United States chairs the G20 in 2026 with a narrowed agenda: cutting regulation, affordable energy and new technologies. Climate, debt, development and inequality are absent. The summit is at Trump National Doral in Miami on December 14 and 15. Spain, a guest at every summit since 2008, was kept out of the year's preparatory meetings. Other guests include Poland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

On September 23, 2026, the United States invited President Putin to Miami. Putin has not attended a summit in person since 2019. The Kremlin has not decided. Russia's finance minister attended the finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, in August, and European ministers refused to pose with him in the group photo. The United Kingdom chairs the G20 in 2027 and South Korea in 2028.

Is it in the G20?

Short answers for the countries people ask about most.

Is Spain in the G20?

Guest

A permanent guest at every summit since 2008, when France lent it one of its seats. In 2026 the United States calls it an "invited observer".

Is Poland in the G20?

No

A 2026 guest campaigning to join, with US backing. Poland was in the G22, the forum before the G20.

Is the Netherlands in the G20?

No

Its economy is larger than Saudi Arabia's, Argentina's and South Africa's. An aide recalls Canada's Paul Martin shouting in 1999: "Holland is not getting on the G20."

Is Switzerland in the G20?

No

It has been invited to the G20's finance meetings 11 years in a row, but not to the leaders' summits.

Is Nigeria in the G20?

No

Africa's only member country is South Africa. The African Union joined in 2023. Nigeria was a guest in 2024 and 2025.

Is Egypt in the G20?

No

It was a guest in 2016 and every year from 2023 to 2025, but is not invited to Miami in 2026.

Is Russia in the G20?

Yes

A founding member. Putin last attended in person in 2019. The United States invited him to Miami in September 2026.

Is South Africa in the G20?

Barred

A founding member, but the United States has barred it from all G20 meetings of 2026.

Is the European Union in the G20?

Yes

A member since 1999. It was the only regional member until the African Union joined in 2023.

Is Saudi Arabia in the G20?

Yes

A member since 1999 and the only Arab member. It was not in the G22 of 1998, the forum before the G20.

Other alliances

All alliances →
G7 7 members · since 1975 Seven rich democracies with 45% of the world's economy. Russia was in it from 1998 to 2014. BRICS 10 members · since 2009 Ten emerging economies with 48% of the world's people. Ten more are partners. All alliances Who belongs to what Which alliances each country is in, and how big each one is. See every country →
7 days free cancel anytime
Get the app