BRIC facts for kids

Brazil, Russia, India, China
	BRICs President (head of state and government): Dilma Rousseff President (head of state): Vladimir Putin Prime Minister (head of government): Dmitry Medvedev President (head of state): Pratibha Patil Prime Minister (head of government): Manmohan Singh President (head of state): Hu Jintao Premier (head of government): Wen Jiabao GDP (PPP) Total : $18,486 billion (2010 estimate); China $10,084 billion; India$4,001 billion; Russia $2,219 billion; Brazil $2,182 billion GDP (nominal) Total : $10,676 billion (2010 estimate); China $5,745 billion; Brazil $2,024 billion; Russia $1,477 billion; India$1,430 billion Area Total : 38,518,338 km2 (2010 estimate); Russia 17,075,400 km2; China 9,640,821 km2; Brazil 8,514,877 km2; India3,287,240 km2 Population Total : 2,851,302,297 (2010 estimate); China 1,336,970,000; India1,179,618,000; Brazil 192,787,000; Russia 141,927,297

This page is about Brazil, Russia, India, and China as large emerging markets. For the political organization that also includes South Africa, see BRICS.

BRIC is used to talk about the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Many economists think that all these countries are at a similar stage of economic development. When people write about these countries, they usually write "BRICs" or the "BRIC countries".

The acronym was invented by Jim O'Neill, an economist who worked for Goldman Sachs. In 2001, he wrote an article that he called "Building Better Global Economic BRICs".

Mexico and South Korea were the only other countries with economies that are like the BRICs. But O'Neill did not include these countries because they were considered already more developed, as they were already members of the OECD.

]] Goldman Sachs argues that the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China is such that they could become among the four most dominant economies by the year 2050. The thesis was proposed by Jim O'Neill, global economist at Goldman Sachs. These countries encompass over 25% of the world's land coverage and 40% of the world's population and hold a combined GDP (PPP) of 18.486 trillion dollars. On almost every scale, they would be the largest entity on the global stage. These four countries are among the biggest and fastest growing emerging markets.

However, it is not the intent of Goldman Sachs to argue that these four countries are a political alliance (such as the European Union) or any formal trading association, like ASEAN. Nevertheless, they have taken steps to increase their political cooperation, mainly as a way of influencing the United States position on major trade accords, or, through the implicit threat of political cooperation, as a way of extracting political concessions from the United States, such as the proposed nuclear cooperation with India.

The BRIC thesis recognizes that Brazil, Russia, India and China have changed their political systems to embrace global capitalism. Goldman Sachs predicts that China and India, respectively, will become the dominant global suppliers of manufactured goods and services, while Brazil and Russia will become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials. It should be noted that of the four countries, Brazil remains the only nation that has the capacity to continue all elements, meaning manufacturing, services, and resource supplying simultaneously. Cooperation is thus hypothesized to be a logical next step among the BRICs because Brazil and Russia together form the logical commodity suppliers to India and China. Thus, the BRICs have the potential to form a powerful economic bloc to the exclusion of the modern-day states currently of "Group of Eight" status. Brazil is dominant in soy and iron ore while Russia has enormous supplies of oil and natural gas. Goldman Sachs' thesis thus documents how commodities, work, technology, and companies have diffused outward from the United States across the world.

Following the end of the Cold War or even before, the governments comprising BRIC all initiated economic or political reforms to allow their countries to enter the world economy. In order to compete, these countries have simultaneously stressed education, foreign investment, domestic consumption, and domestic entrepreneurship.

(2004) Follow-up report

The Goldman Sachs global economics team released a follow-up report to its initial BRIC study in 2004. The report states that in BRIC nations, the number of people with an annual income over a threshold of $3,000, will double in number within three years and reach 800 million people within a decade. This predicts a massive rise in the size of the middle class in these nations. In 2025, it is calculated that the number of people in BRIC nations earning over $15,000 may reach over 200 million. This indicates that a huge pickup in demand will not be restricted to basic goods but impact higher-priced goods as well. According to the report, first China and then a decade later India will begin to dominate the world economy.

Yet despite the balance of growth, swinging so decisively towards the BRIC economies, the average wealth level of individuals in the more advanced economies will continue to far outstrip the BRIC economic average. Goldman Sachs estimates that by 2025 the income per capita in the six most populous EU countries will exceed $35,000, whereas only about 500 million people in the BRIC economies will have similar income levels.

The report also highlights India's great inefficiency in energy use and mentions the dramatic under-representation of these economies in the global capital markets. The report also emphasizes the enormous populations that exist within the BRIC nations, which makes it relatively easy for their aggregate wealth to eclipse the G6, while per-capita income levels remain far below the norm of today's industrialized countries. This phenomenon, too, will affect world markets as multinational corporations will attempt to take advantage of the enormous potential markets in the BRICs by producing, for example, far cheaper automobiles and other manufactured goods affordable to the consumers within the BRICs in lieu of the luxury models that currently bring the most income to automobile manufacturers. India and China have already started making their presence felt in the service and manufacturing sector respectively in the global arena. Developed economies of the world have already taken serious note of this fact.

(2007) Second Follow-up report

This report compiled by lead authors Tushar Poddar and Eva Yi gives insight into "India's Rising Growth Potential". It reveals updated projection figures attributed to the rising growth trends in India over the last four years. Goldman Sachs assert that "India's influence on the world economy will be bigger and quicker than implied in our previously published BRICs research". They noted significant areas of research and development, and expansion that is happening in the country, which will lead to the prosperity of the growing middle-class.

India has 10 of the 30 fastest-growing urban areas in the world and, based on current trends, we estimate a massive 700 million people will move to cities by 2050. This will have significant implications for demand for urban infrastructure, real estate, and services.

In the revised 2007 figures, based on increased and sustaining growth, more inflows into foreign direct investment, Goldman Sachs predicts that "from 2007 to 2020, India's GDP per capita in US$ terms will quadruple", and that the Indian economy will surpass the United States (in US$) by 2043. It states that the four nations as a group will overtake the G7 in 2032.

(2010) EM Equity in Two Decades: A Changing Landscape

According to a new report from Goldman Sachs, China might surpass the US in equity market capitalization terms by 2030 and become the single largest equity market in the world. By 2020, US GDP might be only slightly larger than China's GDP. Together, the four BRICs may account for 41% of the world's market capitalization by 2030, the report said.

On April 2011, International Monetary Fund predicts that GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) of China will surpass U.S. at the year of 2016 due to decline of U.S economy and rise of the Chinese market. The Chinese economy would grow from $11.2 trillion in 2011 to $19 trillion in 2016, whereas the U.S. economy will rise from a dominant $15.2 trillion to a trailing $18.8 trillion.

Due to contraction of Japan's GDP in Q4 2010 by 1.1 percent from the previous quarter, so China's GDP surpassed Japan's GDP by $5.88 trillion and $5.47 trillion respectively and make China as Number 2 in Economy.

Based on Forbes report released on March 2011, BRICs countries for the first time has surpassed Europe in count of billionaires by 301 billionaires or one billionaire ahead over Europe. It was the significant increase by 108 more billionaires than the previous years.

Numbers

The Economist publishes an annual table of social and economic national statistics in its Pocket World in Figures.

Statistics

Painting BRIC by numbers
Categories	Brazil	Russia	India	China
Area	005th	001st	007th	003rd
Population	005th	009th	002nd	001st
Population growth rate	107th	221st	090th	156th
Labour force	005th	007th	002nd	001st
GDP (nominal)	008th	010th	011th	002nd
GDP (PPP)	007th	006th	004th	002nd
GDP (nominal) per capita	055th	054th	137th	095th
GDP (PPP) per capita	071st	051st	127th	093rd
GDP (real) growth rate	015th	088th	007th	005th
Human Development Index	073rd	065th	119th	089th
Exports	018th	011th	016th	001st
Imports	020th	017th	011th	002nd
Current account balance	047th	005th	169th	001st
Received FDI	011th	012th	029th	005th
Foreign exchange reserves	007th	003rd	006th	001st
External debt	028th	024th	026th	023rd
Public debt	047th	122nd	029th	098th
Electricity consumption	009th	004th	005th	001st
Number of mobile phones	005th	004th	002nd	001st
Number of internet users	005th	007th	004th	001st
Motor vehicle production	006th	019th	007th	001st
Military expenditures	012th	005th	010th	002nd
Active troops	014th	005th	003rd	001st
Rail network	010th	002nd	004th	003rd
Road network	004th	008th	003rd	002nd

Predictions

The list of 22 selected countries by nominal GDP from year 2006 to 2050: BRICs, G7 and Next Eleven. The bottom chart list the same 22 countries by nominal GDP per capita (the rankings for this bottom chart do not reflect the GDP per capita for all the world's countries). BRIC countries are highlighted and labeled in bold. Rank 2006: Number 1 to 15 are G20 countries. Five other countries of G20 not in the list are: Argentina, Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and European Union. Number 1 to 8 are G7 (top 7) countries, except China. Since 2027 China will surpass USA. Rank 2050: Top5 countries are: 1.China, 2.USA, 3.India, 4.Brazil, 5.Mexico (All 3 BRIC countries plus USA and Mexico). G7 countries at 2006 which not include in Top5 2050 countries are: Japan (8), Germany (10), United Kingdom (9), France (12), Italy (18) and Canada (16). So only USA from G7 2006 will be one of the Top 5 countries in 2050. Figures reflect data published in 2007.

The ten largest economies in the world in 2050, measured in GDP nominal (millions of USD), according to Goldman Sachs

Gross Domestic Product (in 2006 US$ billions)
Rank 2050	Country	2050	2045	2040	2035	2030	2025	2020	2015	2010	2006
1	China	70,710	57,310	45,022	34,348	25,610	18,437	12,630	8,133	4,667	2,682
2	United States	38,514	33,904	29,823	26,097	22,817	20,087	17,978	16,194	14,535	13,245
3	India	37,668	25,278	16,510	10,514	6,683	4,316	2,848	1,900	1,256	909
4	Brazil	11,366	8,740	6,631	4,963	3,720	2,831	2,194	1,720	1,346	1,064
5	Mexico	9,340	7,204	5,471	4,102	3,068	2,303	1,742	1,327	1,009	851
6	Russia	8,580	7,420	6,320	5,265	4,265	3,341	2,554	1,900	1,371	982
7	Indonesia	7,010	4,846	3,286	2,192	1,479	1,033	752	562	419	350
8	Japan	6,677	6,300	6,042	5,886	5,814	5,570	5,224	4,861	4,604	4,336
9	United Kingdom	5,133	4,744	4,344	3,937	3,595	3,333	3,101	2,835	2,546	2,310
10	Germany	5,024	4,714	4,388	4,048	3,761	3,631	3,519	3,326	3,083	2,851
11	Nigeria	4,640	2,870	1,765	1,083	680	445	306	218	158	121
12	France	4,592	4,227	3,892	3,567	3,306	3,055	2,815	2,577	2,366	2,194
13	South Korea	4,083	3,562	3,089	2,644	2,241	1,861	1,508	1,305	1,071	887
14	Turkey	3,943	3,033	2,300	1,716	1,279	965	740	572	440	390
15	Vietnam	3,607	2,569	1,768	1,169	745	458	273	157	88	55
16	Canada	3,149	2,849	2,569	2,302	2,061	1,856	1,700	1,549	1,389	1,260
17	Philippines	3,010	2,040	1,353	882	582	400	289	215	162	117
18	Italy	2,950	2,737	2,559	2,444	2,391	2,326	2,444	2,072	1,914	1,809
19	Iran	2,663	2,133	1,673	1,273	953	716	544	415	312	245
20	Egypt	2,602	1,728	1,124	718	467	318	229	171	129	101
21	Pakistan	2,085	1,472	1,026	709	497	359	268	206	161	129
22	Bangladesh	1,466	1,001	676	451	304	210	150	110	81	63

In 2050 China will have a GDP US$ 70,710 (in US$ billions) that is more than Brazil, Russia and India together. But the BRIC not necessarily dependent on China to exist, because in 2050 Brazil, Russia and India together have a GDP US$ 57,614 will not have big difference, compared to the G7 which together have a GDP US$ 66,039. (China US$ 70,710), (G7 US$ 66,039), (Brazil, Russia, India US$ 57,614).

Gross Domestic Product (in 2006 US$ billions)
Groups	Flags	2050	2045	2040	2035	2030	2025	2020	2015	2010	2006
BRIC	Brazil, Russia, India, China	128,324	98,757	74,483	55,090	40,278	28,925	20,226	13,653	8,640	5,637
G7	Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, USA	66,039	59,475	53,617	48,281	43,745	39,858	36,781	33,414	30,437	28,005

For the table below: Rank 2006: Number 1 to 7 are G7 countries. Rank 2050: Only 5 of the G7 countries will be in the top 7 in 2050. All of G7 approximately double their GDP per Capita as at 2050 compare to 2006.

Gross Domestic Product per capita (nominal)
Rank 2050	Country	2050	2045	2040	2035	2030	2025	2020	2015	2010	2006	Percent growth 2050/2006
1	United States	91,683	83,489	76,044	69,019	62,717	57,446	53,502	50,200	47,014	44,379	206%
2	South Korea	90,294	75,979	63,924	53,449	44,602	36,813	29,868	26,012	21,602	18,161	497%
3	United Kingdom	79,234	73,807	67,391	61,049	55,904	52,220	49,173	45,591	41,543	38,108	207%
4	Russia	78,435	65,708	54,221	43,800	34,368	26,061	19,311	13,971	9,833	6,909	1,137%
5	Canada	76,002	69,531	63,464	57,728	52,663	48,621	45,961	43,449	40,541	38,071	199%
6	France	75,253	68,252	62,136	56,562	52,327	48,429	44,811	41,332	38,380	36,045	208%
7	Germany	68,253	62,658	57,118	51,710	47,263	45,033	43,223	40,589	37,474	34,588	197%
8	Japan	66,846	60,492	55,756	52,345	49,975	46,419	42,385	38,650	36,194	34,021	196%
9	Mexico	63,149	49,393	38,255	29,417	22,694	17,685	13,979	11,176	8,972	7,918	797%
10	Italy	58,545	52,760	48,070	44,948	43,195	41,358	38,990	35,908	32,948	31,123	188%
11	Brazil	49,759	38,149	29,026	21,924	16,694	12,996	10,375	8,427	6,882	5,657	879%
12	China	49,650	39,719	30,951	23,511	17,522	12,688	8,829	5,837	3,463	2,041	2,432%
13	Turkey	45,595	34,971	26,602	20,046	15,188	11,743	9,291	7,460	6,005	5,545	822%
14	Vietnam	33,472	23,932	16,623	11,148	7,245	4,583	2,834	1,707	1,001	655	5,110%
15	Iran	32,676	26,231	20,746	15,979	12,139	9,328	7,345	5,888	4,652	3,768	867%
16	Indonesia	22,395	15,642	10,784	7,365	5,123	3,711	2,813	2,197	1,724	1,508	1,485%
17	India	20,836	14,446	9,802	6,524	4,360	2,979	2,091	1,492	1,061	817	2,550%
18	Egypt	20,500	14,025	9,443	6,287	4,287	3,080	2,352	1,880	1,531	1,281	1,600%
19	Philippines	20,388	14,260	9,815	6,678	4,635	3,372	2,591	2,075	1,688	1,312	1,553%
20	Nigeria	13,014	8,934	6,117	4,191	2,944	2,161	1,665	1,332	1,087	919	1,416%
21	Pakistan	7,066	5,183	3,775	2,744	2,035	1,568	1,260	1,050	897	778	908%
22	Bangladesh	5,235	3,767	2,698	1,917	1,384	1,027	790	627	510	427	1,225%

At World Economic Forum 2011, there are 365 corporate executives from BRIC and other emerging nations out of 1000 participants. It is a record number of executives from emerging markets. Nomura Holdings Inc's co-head of global investment banking said that "It's a reflection of where economic power and influence is starting to move." The IMF estimates emerging markets may expand 6.5 percent in 2011, more than double the 2.5 percent rate for developed countries. BRIC's takeover made record by 22 percent of global deals or increase by 74 percent in one year and more than quadruple in the last five years.

Terminology

The BRIC leaders in 2009

The BRIC leaders in 2010

Various sources (see external links below) refer to a purported "original" BRIC agreement that predates the Goldman Sachs thesis. Some of these sources claim that President Vladimir Putin of Russia was the driving force behind this original cooperative coalition of developing BRIC countries. However, thus far, no text has been made public of any formal agreement to which all four BRIC states are signatories. This does not mean, however, that they have not reached a multitude of bilateral or even quadrilateral agreements. Evidence of agreements of this type are abundant and are available on the foreign ministry websites of each of the four countries. Trilateral agreements and frameworks made among the BRICs include the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (member states include Russia and China, observers include India) and the IBSA Trilateral Forum, which unites Brazil, India, and South Africa in annual dialogues. Also important to note is the G-20 coalition of developing states which includes all the BRICs.

Also, because of the popularity of the Goldman Sachs thesis "BRIC", this term has sometimes been extended whereby "BRICK" (K for South Korea), "BRIMC" (M for Mexico), "BRICA" (GCC Arab countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates) and "BRICET" (including Eastern Europe and Turkey) have become more generic marketing terms to refer to these emerging markets.

In an August 2010 op-ed, Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs argued that Africa could be considered the next BRIC. Analysts from rival banks have sought to move beyond the BRIC concept, by introducing their own groupings of emerging markets. Proposals include CIVETs (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa), the EAGLEs (Emerging and Growth-Leading Economies) and the 7 per cent Club (which includes those countries which have averaged economic growth of at least 7 per cent a year).

Marketing

The São Paulo Stock Exchange is the third-largest exchange operator by market value in the world.

The BRIC term is also used by companies who refer to the four named countries as key to their emerging markets strategies. By comparison the reduced acronym IC would not be attractive, although the term "Chindia" is often used. The BRIC's study specifically focuses on large countries, not necessarily the wealthiest or the most productive and was never intended to be an investment thesis. If investors read the Goldman's research carefully, and agreed with the conclusions, then they would gain exposure to Asian debt and equity markets rather than to Latin America. According to estimates provided by the USDA, the wealthiest regions outside of the G6 in 2015 will be Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. Combined with China and India, these five economies are likely to be the world's five most influential economies outside of the G6.

On the other hand, when the "R" in BRIC is extended beyond Russia and is used as a loose term to include all of Eastern Europe as well, then the BRIC story becomes more compelling. At issue are the multiple serious problems which confront Russia (potentially unstable government, environmental degradation, critical lack of modern infrastructure, etc.

Brazil's stock market, the Bovespa, has gone from approximately 9,000 in September 2002 to over 70,000 in May 2008. Government policies have favored investment (lowering interest rates), retiring foreign debt and expanding growth, and a reformulation of the tax system is being voted in the congress. The British author and researcher Mark Kobayashi-Hillary wrote a book in 2007 titled 'Building a Future with BRICs' for European publisher Springer Verlag that examines the growth of the BRICs region and its effect on global sourcing. Contributors to the book include Nandan Nilekani, and Shiv Nadar.

International Law

Brazilian lawyer and author Adler Martins has published a paper called "Contratos Internacionais entre os países do BRIC" (International Agreements Among BRIC countries) which highlights the international conventions ratified by the BRIC countries, which allow them to maintain trade and investment activities safely within the group. Mr. Martin's study is being further developed by the Federal University of the Minas Gerais State, in Brazil.

Financial diversification

It has been argued that geographic diversification would eventually generate superior risk-adjusted returns for long-term global investors by reducing overall portfolio risk while capturing some of the higher rates of return offered by the emerging markets of Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. By doing so, these institutional investors have contributed to the financial and economic development of key emerging nations such as Brazil, India, China, and Russia. For global investors, India and China constitute both large-scale production platforms and reservoirs of new consumers, whereas Russia is viewed essentially as an exporter of oil and commodities- Brazil and Latin America being somehow "in the middle".

Criticism

A criticism is that the BRIC projections are based on the assumptions that resources are limitless and endlessly available when needed. In reality, many important resources currently necessary to sustain economic growth, such as oil, natural gas, coal, other fossil fuels, and uranium might soon experience a peak in production before enough renewable energy can be developed and commercialized, which might result in slower economic growth than anticipated, thus throwing off the projections and their dates. The economic emergence of the BRICs will have unpredictable consequences for the global environment. Indeed, proponents of a set carrying capacity for the Earth may argue that, given current technology, there is a finite limit to how much the BRICs can develop before exceeding the ability of the global economy to supply.

Academics and experts have suggested that China is in a league of its own compared to the other BRIC countries. As David Rothkopf wrote in Foreign Policy, "Without China, the BRICs are just the BRI, a bland, soft cheese that is primarily known for the whine that goes with it. China is the muscle of the group and the Chinese know it. They have effective veto power over any BRIC initiatives because without them, who cares really? They are the one with the big reserves. They are the biggest potential market. They are the U.S. partner in the G2 (imagine the coverage a G2 meeting gets vs. a G8 meeting) and the E2 (no climate deal without them) and so on." Deutsche Bank Research said in a report that "economically, financially and politically, China overshadows and will continue to overshadow the other BRICs." It added that China's economy is larger than that of the three other BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia and India) combined. Moreover, China's exports and its official forex reserve holdings are more than twice as large as those of the other BRICs combined. In that perspective, some pension investment experts have argued that “China alone accounts for more than 70% of the combined GDP growth generated by the BRIC countries [from 1999 to 2010]: if there is a BRIC miracle it’s first and foremost a Chinese one”.

There are many uncertainties and assumptions in the BRIC thesis that could mean that any or all of these four countries will not live up to their promise.

There is also the issue of population growth. The population of Russia is beginning to shrink fast. Brazil's and China's populations will begin to decline in several decades

Brazil's economic potential has been anticipated for decades, but it had until recently consistently failed to achieve investor expectations.

Finally, India's relations with its neighbor Pakistan have always been tense. In 1998, there was a nuclear standoff between Pakistan and India.

Other critics suggest that BRIC is nothing more than a neat acronym for the four largest emerging market economies,

It is also noticed that BRIC countries have undermined qualitative factors that is reflected in deterioration in Doing Business ranking 2010 and other several human indexes.

In a not-so-subtle dig critical of the term as nothing more than a shorthand for emerging markets generally, critics have suggested a correlating term, CEMENT (Countries in Emerging Markets Excluded by New Terminology). Whilst they accept there has been spectacular growth of the BRIC economies, these gains have largely been the result of the strength of emerging markets generally, and that strength comes through having BRICs and CEMENT.

Proposed Inclusions

Mexico and South Korea are currently the world's 14th and 15th largest by nominal GDP, just behind the BRIC and G7 economies, while both are experiencing rapid GDP growth of 5% every year, a figure comparable to Brazil from the original BRICs. Jim O'Neill, expert from the same bank and creator of the economic thesis, stated that in 2001 when the paper was created, it did not consider Mexico, but today it has been included because the country is experiencing the same factors that the other countries first included present. While South Korea was not originally included in the BRICs, recent solid economic growth led to Goldman Sachs proposing to add Mexico and South Korea to the BRICs, changing the acronym to BRIMCK, with Jim O'Neill pointing out that Korea "is better placed than most others to realize its potential due to its growth-supportive fundamentals.

A Goldman Sachs paper published later in December 2005 explained why Mexico and South Korea weren't included in the original BRICs. According to the paper, among the other countries they looked at, only Mexico and South Korea have the potential to rival the BRICs, but they are economies that they decided to exclude initially because they looked to them as already more developed. However, due to the popularity of the Goldman Sachs thesis, "BRIMC" and "BRICK" are becoming more generic marketing terms to refer to these six countries.

In their paper "BRICs and Beyond", Goldman Sachs stated that "Mexico, the four BRIC countries and South Korea should not be really thought of as emerging markets in the classical sense", adding that they are a "critical part of the modern globalised economy" and "just as central to its functioning as the current G7".

The term is primarily used in the economic and financial spheres as well as in academia. Its usage has grown specially in the investment sector, where it is used to refer to the bonds emitted by these emerging markets governments.

Mexico

Primarily, along with the BRICs, Goldman Sachs argues that the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico and China is such that they may become (with the USA) the six most dominant economies by the year 2050. Due to Mexico's rapidly advancing infrastructure, increasing middle class and rapidly declining poverty rates it is expected to have a higher GDP per capita than all but three European countries by 2050, this new found local wealth also contributes to the nation's economy by creating a large domestic consumer market which in turn creates more jobs.

Mexico in 2050
	Mexico
GDP in USD	$9.340 trillion
GDP per capita	$63,149
GDP growth (2015–2050)	4.0%
Total population	142 million

South Korea

South Korea is by far the most highly developed country when compared to the BRICs and N-11s, with a GDP per capita higher than Italy and Spain and HDI higher than Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom. Yet, it has been achieving growth rates of 4-6%, a figure more than double that of other advanced economies. More importantly, it has a significantly higher Growth Environment Score (Goldman Sachs' way of measuring the long-term sustainability of growth) than all of the BRICs or N-11s. Commentators such as William Pesek Jr. from Bloomberg argue that Korea is "Another 'BRIC' in Global Wall", suggesting that it stands out from the Next Eleven economies. By GDP (PPP), South Korea already overtook a G7 and G8 economy, Canada, in 2009. It then surpassed Spain in 2010 and at current speed, will take over Italy before 2018. Economists from other investment firms argue that Korea will have a GDP per capita of over $96,000 by 2050, surpassing the United States and by far the wealthiest among the G7, BRIC and N-11 economies, suggesting that wealth is more important than size for bond investors, stating that Korea's credit rating will be rated AAA sooner than 2050.

Korea in 2050
	United Korea	South Korea	North Korea
GDP in USD	$6.056 trillion	$4.073 trillion	$1.982 trillion
GDP per capita	$86,000	$96,000	$70,000
GDP growth (2015–2050)	4.8%	3.9%	11.4%
Total population	71 million	42 million	28 million

United Korea

In September 2009, Goldman Sachs published its 188th Global Economics Paper named "A United Korea?" which highlighted in detail the potential economic power of a United Korea, which will surpass all current G7 countries except the United States, such as Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and France within 30–40 years of reunification, estimating GDP to surpass $6 trillion by 2050. The young, skilled labor and large amount of natural resources from the North combined with advanced technology, infrastructure and large amount of capital in the South, as well as Korea's strategic location connecting three economic powers, is likely going to create an economy larger than the bulk of the G7. According to some opinions, a reunited Korea could occur before 2050, or even between 2010 and 2020. If it occurred, Korean reunification would immediately raise the country's population to over 70 million.

Related pages

BRICS
Potential superpower
Emerging markets
Next Eleven
EAGLEs, Emerging and Growth Leading Economies
Asian Union
North American Union
CIVETS
G8
G20
BASIC countries + Russia = BASICR
PIGS (economics) -->

Images for kids

Mexico City