BRICS Summit: How it started, expanded and grew into an 11-nation bloc with 40% of global GDP
India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026, marking India's fourth term as BRICS chair (after 2012, 2016 and 2021).
The summit coincides with 20 years since the grouping's first formal meeting — a gathering of the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2006.
Following the 2024-25 expansion round, BRICS now has 11 full member states, up from the original five (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).
The enlarged bloc collectively accounts for close to 40% of global GDP on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis and nearly half of the world's population.
Heads of state and government from member countries are attending, alongside partner-country representatives and invited guests.
From "BRIC" to BRICS: Origins of the Grouping (2001-2011)
The term "BRIC" was coined in a 2001 Goldman Sachs research paper by economist Jim O'Neill to describe Brazil, Russia, India and China as the emerging economies with the greatest growth potential. It became a formal diplomatic grouping only in September 2006, when the four countries' foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York — the meeting that the 2026 summit's "20 years" framing refers to. The first full leaders' summit followed in June 2009 at Yekaterinburg, Russia. South Africa was invited to join in December 2010 and first attended as a member at the 2011 summit in Sanya, China, completing the acronym "BRICS."
Key Details
- 2001: "BRIC" acronym coined by Goldman Sachs (not a formal grouping).
- September 2006: first BRIC foreign ministers' meeting, New York (UNGA sidelines) — the grouping's formal starting point.
- June 2009: first BRIC leaders' summit, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
- 2010/2011: South Africa invited and inducted, forming "BRICS."
The 2026 New Delhi summit is explicitly framed as marking "20 years of BRICS," dating the grouping's founding to the 2006 foreign ministers' meeting rather than the 2009 first summit — a distinction UPSC prelims can test.
India's BRICS Chairship: A Rotating, Consensus-Based Mechanism
BRICS has no permanent secretariat or charter-based headquarters; the chairship (and with it, the hosting of the annual summit and the year's calendar of ministerial and working-group meetings) rotates annually among full members in an agreed sequence, similar in principle to the G20's rotating presidency but operating without a treaty-based charter. India has held the chair four times — 2012 (New Delhi summit), 2016 (Goa summit), 2021 (a virtual summit conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic), and 2026 (New Delhi).
Key Details
- BRICS decision-making is by consensus among members, not majority voting, unlike weighted-vote bodies such as the IMF/World Bank.
- India's 2026 chairship year involved over 350 BRICS-related meetings across more than 25 Indian cities before the leaders' summit.
- Comparable rotating-chair format: the G20 presidency, which India held in 2023 (New Delhi summit, Bharat Mandapam).
As chair for a fourth time, India sets the 2026 summit's agenda and priorities, continuing a pattern where the host country's chairship year culminates in a leaders' summit and a joint outcome document.
Economic and Demographic Weight of the Expanded Bloc
The 2024-25 expansion — admitting Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE from January 1, 2024, and Indonesia from January 2025 — sharply increased BRICS's aggregate economic and demographic footprint. On a PPP basis (which adjusts for domestic price levels rather than market exchange rates), the expanded bloc's combined GDP is now estimated at close to 40% of the world total; on a nominal (market exchange rate) basis, its share is considerably smaller, since PPP comparisons favour populous, lower-cost economies such as China and India.
Key Details
- Full members (2026): Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Indonesia — plus Saudi Arabia, which was invited at the 2023 Johannesburg summit but whose formal accession has remained unconfirmed [Unverified — sources differ on final status].
- Expanded BRICS accounts for roughly 40% of global GDP (PPP) and nearly half of world population.
- Argentina was also invited in 2023 but withdrew before joining.
- Since 2025, BRICS has added a tier of "Partner Countries" (a status short of full membership) including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Bolivia.
The "40% of global GDP" figure cited for the 2026 summit is a direct consequence of the 2024-25 membership expansion, and is a PPP-basis statistic — a distinction prelims questions frequently test against nominal GDP figures.
BRICS and the "Multipolarity" / Global South Discourse
BRICS is frequently cited in international relations discourse as evidence of a shift toward a "multipolar" world order, in which economic and political influence is more widely distributed rather than concentrated in a US/Western-led (unipolar or G7-centred) system. The bloc positions itself as a platform for "Global South" cooperation and reform of multilateral institutions such as the UN Security Council, IMF and World Bank.
Key Details
- G7 (US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan) is often used as the comparator grouping in "multipolarity" discussions.
- BRICS members have separately called for UN Security Council reform, including expanded permanent membership (India's long-standing demand).
- The bloc has no binding charter; its declarations are political/consensus statements, not treaty obligations.
The 20th-anniversary framing of the 2026 summit is being used diplomatically to underscore BRICS's growth from a four-country acronym into a grouping that its members present as representative of a broader, more multipolar international order.
- First BRIC foreign ministers' meeting: September 2006 (UNGA sidelines, New York).
- First BRIC leaders' summit: June 2009, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
- South Africa joined: invited December 2010, first attended 2011 (Sanya, China).
- 2024-25 expansion: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE joined January 1, 2024; Indonesia joined January 2025 (10th full member); Saudi Arabia invited but accession unconfirmed.
- 18th BRICS Summit: September 12-13, 2026, New Delhi — India's 4th chairship (after 2012, 2016, 2021).
- Expanded BRICS economic weight: ~40% of global GDP (PPP terms); ~45% of world population.