A bigger BRICS, a heavier economy but a harder consensus, explained in charts
Ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit (September 12-13, 2026, New Delhi), an economic analysis highlighted that the enlarged BRICS bloc now accounts for a substantially larger share of global GDP and trade than the original five-member grouping, following the 2024-25 expansion.
BRICS economies together represented close to 40% of global GDP on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis in 2024, compared to roughly 29% for the G7 grouping.
BRICS members' combined global merchandise exports grew from nearly USD 1 trillion in 2003 to around USD 6 trillion in 2024, doubling their share of global exports from about 12% to 24%.
Despite this growing economic heft, intra-BRICS trade remains a small fraction (around 5%) of global trade, and the bloc's expanded, more diverse membership has made consensus-building harder.
Structural imbalances — China's dominance within intra-BRICS trade, divergent income levels among members (from high-income Gulf states to low-income African members), and unresolved bilateral tensions (e.g., India-China border issues, Saudi Arabia-Iran rivalry) — complicate unified bloc positions.
BRICS Expansion: From BRIC to an 11-Member Grouping
BRICS began as "BRIC" — an acronym coined in a 2001 Goldman Sachs report by Jim O'Neill for Brazil, Russia, India, China — before the grouping's leaders held their first formal summit in 2009 (Yekaterinburg, Russia). South Africa joined in 2010, forming BRICS. A major expansion took effect January 1, 2024, admitting Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE; Indonesia joined as a full member in January 2025. Saudi Arabia was invited at the 2023 Johannesburg summit, though its formal accession status has remained ambiguous through 2026 [Unverified — sources conflict on whether membership is fully finalised]. Since 2025, BRICS has also inducted several "Partner Countries" (a status short of full membership), including Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
The 2024-25 membership expansion is the direct cause of BRICS's sharply increased share of global GDP and exports, but it has simultaneously diluted the original five-member group's relative cohesion, since new members bring divergent economic structures and bilateral rivalries into a consensus-based (not majority-vote) decision-making body.
BRICS Economic Weight vs G7: PPP-based GDP Comparison
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a method of comparing national economic output that adjusts for differences in price levels between countries, often producing a very different ranking from nominal (market exchange rate) GDP comparisons. On a PPP basis, BRICS's combined economic weight has overtaken the G7 (US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan) in recent years, a frequently cited statistic in debates over a shifting global economic order and potential "multipolarity."
Key Details
- BRICS (expanded) accounted for close to 40% of global GDP (PPP) in 2024, versus approximately 29% for the G7.
- PPP comparisons tend to favour populous, lower-cost economies like China and India relative to nominal GDP rankings (where the US, China, and EU/G7 members dominate).
- IMF World Economic Outlook data is the standard source cited for such PPP-based comparisons.
The "bigger economy" framing in current commentary relies specifically on the PPP metric, which UPSC aspirants must distinguish from nominal GDP — a common prelims trap, since BRICS's dominance is far less pronounced (or reversed) when measured at market exchange rates.
New Development Bank and Multilateral Financial Reform
The New Development Bank (NDB), established July 2014 by the founding BRICS members (entered into force 2015, HQ Shanghai), was created as an alternative/supplement to Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank, IMF) for financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging economies, with equal voting rights among founding members and no single-country veto — a structural contrast to the World Bank/IMF's weighted voting systems.
Key Details
- NDB founding members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (each with equal initial voting share).
- NDB membership has since expanded to include Bangladesh, UAE, Egypt, Algeria, Colombia, and others.
- The NDB and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA, also 2014) together form BRICS's twin financial architecture — the NDB for project financing, the CRA for balance-of-payments/liquidity support.
Discussions on reforming global economic governance (a recurring BRICS Summit theme) point to the NDB as BRICS's flagship institutional counterweight to Western-dominated multilateral finance, even as the bloc's growing size makes agreeing on further institutional reforms (like NDB capital expansion for new members) more contentious.
- BRICS share of global GDP (PPP), 2024: ~40%, vs ~29% for G7.
- BRICS combined merchandise exports: ~USD 1 trillion (2003) to ~USD 6 trillion (2024); global export share doubled from ~12% to ~24%.
- Intra-BRICS trade: grew from USD 84 billion (2003) to ~USD 1.17 trillion (2024) — a 13-fold rise — yet still only ~5% of global trade.
- BRICS expansion: BRIC formed 2009 (first summit); South Africa joined 2010; Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE joined January 1, 2024; Indonesia joined January 2025; Saudi Arabia invited 2023, accession status still evolving as of 2026.
- New Development Bank: established July 2014, HQ Shanghai, founding members Brazil/Russia/India/China/South Africa with equal voting rights and no veto.
- 18th BRICS Summit: September 12-13, 2026, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, under India's 2026 chairship, theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."