Brics turns 25: How a Goldman Sachs acronym became a global power bloc
The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi coincides with 25 years since the term "BRIC" was first coined, marking the grouping's evolution from an investment-research acronym into an eleven-member multilateral platform
The grouping now includes eleven full member countries and roughly ten partner countries associated through a separate engagement category
Discussions at the New Delhi summit focus on economic cooperation, technological advancement and global governance challenges
The summit is framed as reflecting BRICS's maturation into what is often described as a platform for the "Global South"
Origin of the "BRIC" Acronym (2001)
The term "BRIC" was coined by Goldman Sachs chief global economist Jim O'Neill in a November 2001 research paper, "Building Better Global Economic BRICs," which identified Brazil, Russia, India and China as economies likely to individually and collectively rival the developed G7 economies in the coming decades. It began as a market-analysis framework, not a political grouping — the political grouping emerged later, at the initiative of the four countries themselves.
Key Details
- Coined by: Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs, November 2001
- Original purpose: identify large emerging economies with high growth potential for investment analysis, not a diplomatic bloc
- The four BRIC states began annual foreign-minister-level meetings from 2006, before the first full leaders' summit in 2009
- 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the term's coinage, distinct from the 17th anniversary of the first leaders' summit (2009)
"BRICS turns 25" measures from O'Neill's 2001 paper, not from the grouping's formal political founding in 2009 — an important distinction for precise dating.
From BRIC to BRICS: Institutionalisation (2009-2015)
The four original BRIC states held their first leaders' summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009. South Africa was invited to join in December 2010 and first participated as a member at the 2011 Sanya Summit in China, at which point the grouping became "BRICS." The New Development Bank (NDB), BRICS's flagship institutional achievement, was established via an agreement signed at the 2014 Fortaleza Summit and began operations in 2015.
Key Details
- First BRIC leaders' summit: Yekaterinburg, Russia, 16 June 2009
- South Africa's accession: invited December 2010, joined as member 2011 (Sanya Summit)
- New Development Bank: agreement signed Fortaleza, July 2014; operational from July 2015; headquartered in Shanghai; initial authorised capital of $100 billion, subscribed capital of $50 billion shared equally among the five founding members
- NDB is distinct from the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), a separate $100 billion currency-swap safety-net mechanism also agreed at Fortaleza in 2014
The New Development Bank remains BRICS's principal concrete institutional output, cited as evidence of the grouping's shift from a discussion forum to a platform with functioning multilateral institutions.
2024-25 Expansion and the "Global South" Framing
BRICS approved its first membership expansion in over a decade at the 2023 Johannesburg Summit, admitting Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE effective January 2024, followed by Indonesia's accession in January 2025. A separate "BRICS partner country" category was created at the 2024 Kazan Summit for states engaging short of full membership. This expansion is frequently described as BRICS positioning itself as a leading platform for "Global South" cooperation, alongside — and sometimes contrasted with — India's own G20 presidency (2023) framing of "One Earth, One Family, One Future."
Key Details
- 2023 Johannesburg Summit: decision to admit five new full members effective 1 January 2024
- January 2025: Indonesia's accession as the eleventh full member
- Kazan Declaration (October 2024): formal creation of the "BRICS partner country" category, with initial partners including Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and (from 2025) Vietnam
- "Global South" is a widely used but informally defined term (no single treaty-based membership list), generally referring to developing and emerging economies across Africa, Asia and Latin America
The article's description of "eleven member nations and ten partner countries" reflects the cumulative outcome of the 2023-24 expansion decisions and the 2024 Kazan partner-country framework, marking the most significant structural change to BRICS since its 2010-11 founding-plus-one configuration.
- "BRIC" term coined: November 2001, Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs
- First BRIC leaders' summit: 2009, Yekaterinburg, Russia
- South Africa joins (becomes BRICS): invited 2010, member from 2011
- New Development Bank: agreement 2014 (Fortaleza), operational 2015, HQ Shanghai, $100 billion authorised capital
- 2024 expansion (effective 1 Jan 2024): Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE
- 2025 expansion: Indonesia becomes full member
- Partner-country category created: Kazan Declaration, October 2024
- Current structure (2026): 11 full members, roughly 10 partner countries
- 18th BRICS Summit: New Delhi, 12-13 September 2026, hosted under India's 2026 chairmanship theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability"