BRICS facts for kids
BRICS logo during the 2024 Russian chairmanship
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BRICS representatives at the 2023 summit, from left to right: Lula da Silva, Xi Jinping, Cyril Ramaphosa, Narendra Modi, and Sergey Lavrov
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Map key:
Member states Prospective member states |
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| Abbreviation | BRICS |
|---|---|
| Named after | Founder member states' initials (in English) |
| Predecessor | BRIC (informal) |
| Formation | 16 June 2009 |
| Founded at | Yekaterinburg, Russia (1st BRIC summit) |
| Type | Intergovernmental organization |
| Purpose | Political and economical |
| Fields | International Politics |
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Membership
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9 member states
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| Website | brics-russia2024.ru |
BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Originally identified to highlight investment opportunities, the grouping evolved into an actual geopolitical bloc, with their governments meeting annually at formal summits and coordinating multilateral policies since 2009. Bilateral relations among BRICS are conducted mainly based on non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit.
The founding countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China held the first summit in Yekaterinburg in 2009, with South Africa joining the bloc a year later. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates joined the organisation on 1 January 2024. Saudi Arabia is yet to officially join, but participates in the organisation's activities as an invited nation.
Combined, the BRICS members encompass about 30% of the world's land surface and 45% of the global population. South Africa has the largest economy in Africa whereas Brazil, Russia, India, and China are among the world's ten largest countries by population, area, and gross domestic product (GDP) nominal and by purchasing power parity. All five initial member states are members of the G20, with a combined nominal GDP of US$28 trillion (about 27% of the gross world product), a total GDP (PPP) of around US$57 trillion (33% of global GDP PPP), and an estimated US$4.5 trillion in combined foreign reserves (as of 2018).
The BRICS countries are considered the foremost geopolitical rival to the G7 bloc of leading advanced economies, implementing competing initiatives such as the New Development Bank, the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement, the BRICS pay, the BRICS Joint Statistical Publication and the BRICS basket reserve currency.
BRICS has received both praise and criticism from numerous commentators.
Contents
History
Founding
The term BRIC was originally developed in the context of foreign investment strategies. It was introduced in the 2001 publication, Building Better Global Economic BRICs by then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O'Neill.
The foreign ministers of the initial four BRIC General states (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) met in New York City in September 2006 at the margins of the General Debate of the UN Assembly, beginning a series of high-level meetings. A full-scale diplomatic meeting was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16 June 2009.
The BRIC grouping's 1st formal summit, also held in Yekaterinburg, commenced on 16 June 2009, with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dmitry Medvedev, Manmohan Singh, and Hu Jintao, the respective leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, all attending. The summit's focus was on improving the global economic situation and reforming financial institutions, and discussed how the 4 countries could better co-operate in the future. There was further discussion of ways that developing countries, such as 3/4 of the BRIC members, could become more involved in global affairs.
In the aftermath of the 2009 Yekaterinburg summit, the BRIC nations announced the need for a new global reserve currency, which would have to be "diverse, stable and predictable." Although the statement that was released did not directly criticize the perceived "dominance" of the US dollar – something that Russia had criticized in the past – it did spark a fall in the value of the dollar against other major currencies.
2010 expansion
In 2010, South Africa began efforts to join the BRIC grouping, and the process for its formal admission began in August of that year. South Africa officially became a member nation on 24 December 2010, after being formally invited by China to join and subsequently accepted by other BRIC countries. The group was renamed BRICS – with the "S" standing for South Africa – to reflect the group's expanded membership. In April 2011, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, attended the 2011 BRICS summit in Sanya, China, as a full member.
New Development Bank
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In June 2012, the BRICS nations pledged $75 billion to boost the lending power of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, this loan was conditional on IMF voting reforms. In March 2013, during the fifth BRICS summit in Durban, the member countries agreed to create a global financial institution to cooperate with the western-dominated IMF and World Bank. They planned to set up this New Development Bank by 2014.
At the BRICS leaders meeting in St Petersburg in September 2013, China committed $41 billion towards the pool; Brazil, India, and Russia $18 billion each; and South Africa $5 billion. China, which held the world's largest foreign exchange reserves and contributed the bulk of the currency pool, wanted a more significant managing role. China also wanted to be the location of the reserve. In October 2013, Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that creating a $100 billion in funds designated to steady currency markets would be taken in early 2014. The Brazilian finance minister, Guido Mantega, confirmed that the fund would be created by March 2014. However, by April 2014, the currency reserve pool and development bank had yet to be set up, and the date was rescheduled to 2015.
In July 2014, during the sixth BRICS summit in Fortaleza, the BRICS signed the document to create the US$100 billion New Development Bank (formerly known as the "BRICS Development Bank") and a reserve currency pool worth over another US$100 billion. Documents on cooperation between BRICS export credit agencies and an agreement of cooperation on innovation were also signed. The Fortaleza summit was followed by a BRICS meeting with the Union of South American Nations presidents in Brasilia.
Other initiatives
Since 2011, the National Institutes of Statistics of the BRICS group of countries (IBGE, Rosstat, the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the Central Statistics Office (India) and Statistics South Africa) produce an annual joint statistical publication to put statistical production in perspective, compare adopted methodologies and statistical results. The publication serves as a single data platform for the mutual benefit of participating countries.
Since 2012, the BRICS group of countries has been planning an optical fiber submarine communications cable system to carry telecommunications between the BRICS countries, known as the BRICS Cable. Part of the motivation for the project was the spying of the U.S. National Security Agency on all telecommunications that flowed in and out of United States territory. As of 2023, construction of the proposed cable network had not started.
In August 2019, the communications ministers of the BRICS countries signed a letter of intent to cooperate in the Information and Communication Technology sector. This agreement was signed in the fifth edition of the meeting of communication ministers of countries member of the group held in Brasília, Brazil.
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The New Development Bank plans on giving out $15 billion to member states to help their struggling economies. Member countries are hoping for a smooth comeback and a continuation of economic trade pre-COVID-19. The 2020 BRICS summit was held virtually in St. Petersburg, Russia, and discussed how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and how to fix the multilateral system via reforms. During the 13th BRICS summit, in 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a transparent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 under the World Health Organization with the full cooperation of "all countries", and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke directly afterwards, calling on BRICS countries to "oppose politicisation" of the process.
In May 2023, South Africa announced that they would be giving diplomatic immunity to Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials so that they could attend the 15th BRICS Summit despite the ICC arrest warrant for Putin. In July 2023, the Russian president announced that he will not personally attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on 22–24 August despite good relations with the South African government. Russian news channels noted that Putin will remotely participate online in all BRICS leaders' sessions, including its Business Forum, and also deliver his remarks virtually.
2024 expansion
In August 2023, at the 15th BRICS Summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that 6 emerging market group countries (Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) had been invited to join the bloc. Full membership was scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2024. However, the Argentine general election in November 2023 led to a change in president to Javier Milei, who had committed to withdraw the country's membership application. On 30 November 2023, incoming Foreign Minister of Argentina Diana Mondino confirmed that Argentina would not join the BRICS. On 29 December 2023 the Government of Argentina sent a letter to all BRICS leaders to officially announce its withdrawal from the application process.
Saudi Arabia did not join BRICS at the start of 2024 as had been planned, and they announced in mid-January that they were still considering the matter. As of April 2024, the matter is still under consideration. The organizers touted the expansion as part of a plan to build a competing multipolar world order that uses Global South countries to challenge and compete against the western-dominated world order that is led by western countries. China Daily used the expansion to claim that more developing countries were interested in joining BRICS. Despite this, Brazil and India have recently been building relations with western countries and have joined with competing western-led groups like OECD.
Summits
The grouping has held annual summits since 2009, with member countries taking turns to host. Before South Africa's admission, two BRIC summits were held, in 2009 and 2010. The first five-member BRICS summit was held in 2011. The most recent BRICS leaders' summit took place virtually on 23 June 2022 hosted by China. India hosted the BRICS 2021 summit in New Delhi and, amid tensions with China, Chinese leader Xi Jinping had made a soft move by supporting India's Chairmanship in 2021.
| No. | Dates | Host country | Host leader | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 16 June 2009 |  Russia |
Dmitry Medvedev | Yekaterinburg (Sevastianov's House) | The summit was to discuss the global recession taking place at the time, future cooperation among states, and trade. Some of the specific topics discussed were food, trade, climate trade, and security for the members. They called out for a more influential voice and representation for up-and-coming markets. Note at the time South Africa was not yet admitted to the BRICS organization at the time. |
| 2nd | 15 April 2010 |  Brazil |
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | Brasília (Itamaraty Palace) | Guests: Jacob Zuma (President of South Africa) and Riyad al-Maliki (Foreign Minister of the Palestinian National Authority). The second summit continued on the conversation of the global recession and how to recover. They had a conversation on the IMF, climate change, and more ways to form cooperation among states. |
| 3rd | 14 April 2011 |  China |
Hu Jintao | Sanya (Sheraton Sanya Resort) | First summit to include South Africa alongside the original BRIC countries. The third summit had members debating on the global and internal economies of countries. |
| 4th | 29 March 2012 |  India |
Manmohan Singh | New Delhi (Taj Mahal Hotel) | The BRICS Cable announced an optical fibre submarine communications cable system that carries telecommunications between the BRICS countries. The fourth summit discussed how the organization could prosper from the global recession and how they could take advantage of that to help their economies. BRICS had the intention of improving their global power and providing adequate development for their state. |
| 5th | 26–27 March 2013 |  South Africa |
Jacob Zuma | Durban (Durban ICC) | The fifth summit discusses the New Development Bank proposition and Contingent Reserve Agreement. BRICS also announced the Business Council and its Think Tank Council. |
| 6th | 14–17 July 2014 | Brazil |
Dilma Rousseff | Fortaleza (Centro de Eventos do Ceará) | BRICS New Development Bank and BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement agreements signed. The members of BRICS conversed with each other about political coordination, development, and economic growth. They established the Fortaleza Declaration and Action Plan. |
| 7th | 8–9 July 2015 | Russia |
Vladimir Putin | Ufa (Congress Hall) | Joint summit with SCO-EAEU. The seventh summit discussed global, economic problems, and better ways to foster cooperation among member states. |
| 8th | 15–16 October 2016 | India |
Narendra Modi | Benaulim (Taj Exotica) | Joint summit with BIMSTEC. The eighth BRICS summit debated on topics like counterterrorism, economies, and climate change. BRICS also issued the Goa Declaration and Action Plan, hoping to harden their relationships. |
| 9th | 3–5 September 2017 | China |
Xi Jinping | Xiamen (Xiamen International Conference Center) | Joint summit with EMDCD. The ninth summit was an event that talked about a bright future for BRICS and what their goals intend to be. They still covered and debated international and regional issues with one another; hopeful to keep moving forward. |
| 10th | 25–27 July 2018 | South Africa |
Cyril Ramaphosa | Johannesburg (Sandton Convention Centre) | The tenth summit had the members discuss their rising industries. Hoping they can cut a bigger slice of the industry market. |
| 11th | 13–14 November 2019 | Brazil |
Jair Bolsonaro | Brasília (Itamaraty Palace) | The eleventh summit discussed advancements in the BRICS's science and innovation fields. Primarily trying to advance technology and digital currency. |
| 12th | 21–23 July 2020 (postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic) 17 November 2020 (video conference) |
Russia |
Vladimir Putin | Saint Petersburg | Joint summit with SCO. Discussing a mutual agreement on helping BRICS member countries to foster better living standards and quality of life for each country's people. Plans on focusing on peace, economies, and cultural societal issues. |
| 13th | 9 September 2021 (video conference) | India |
Narendra Modi | New Delhi | BRICS Games 2021 |
| 14th | 23 June 2022 (video conference) | China |
Xi Jinping | Beijing | A major development on the summit was the creation of a new, basket type reserve currency. The currency, which is challenging the US dollar, combines BRICS currencies and is backed by precious metals. |
| 15th | 22–24 August 2023 | South Africa |
Cyril Ramaphosa | Johannesburg (Sandton Convention Centre) | Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were invited to join the bloc. Full membership was scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2024. On December 29, 2023, the Government of Argentina sent a letter to all BRICS leaders officially declining the invitation to join the bloc. Saudi Arabia has not yet confirmed its acceptance. |
| 16th | 22–24 October 2024 | Russia |
Vladimir Putin | Kazan | |
| 17th | TBD 2025 | Brazil |
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | TBD |
Member states
| Flag | Country |
Capital |
Area (km2) |
Population (2016) |
Density (/km2) |
GDP per cap. (PPP) |
HDI | Currency |
Official languages | Leaders | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Brazil Federative Republic of Brazil |
Brasília | 8,515,767 | 217,140,790 | 26 | 20,079 | 0.760 | Brazilian real (R$) (BRL) |
Portuguese also see Languages of Brazil |
Head of State and Government: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | September 2006 |
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Russia Russian Federation |
Moscow | 17,075,400 | 146,519,759 | 8.3 | 35,310 | 0.821 | Russian rouble (₽) (RUB) |
Russian also see Languages of Russia |
Head of State: Vladimir Putin Head of Government: Mikhail Mishustin |
September 2006 |
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India Republic of India |
New Delhi | 3,287,240 | 1,284,480,000 | 364.4 | 9,183 | 0.644 | Indian rupee (₹) (INR) |
Hindi (Devanagari script) English Also see Languages of India |
Head of State: Droupadi Murmu Head of Government: Narendra Modi |
September 2006 |
 |
China People's Republic of China |
Beijing | 9,640,011 | 1,374,820,000 | 139.6 | 23,309 | 0.788 | Renminbi (Chinese yuan, ¥) (CNY) |
Standard Chinese written in simplified characters see also languages of China |
Head of State: Xi Jinping Head of Government: Li Qiang |
September 2006 |
 |
South Africa Republic of South Africa |
Pretoria (executive) Cape Town (legislative) Bloemfontein (judicial) |
1,221,037 | 58,048,332 | 42.4 | 16,211 | 0.717 | South African rand (R) (ZAR) |
12 languages | Head of State and Government: Cyril Ramaphosa | 24 December 2010 |
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Egypt Arab Republic of Egypt |
Cairo | 1,010,408 | 105,231,000 | 103.56 | 17,123 | 0.728 | Egyptian pound (LE) (EGP) |
Arabic | Head of State: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Head of Government: Moustafa Madbouly |
1 January 2024 |
 |
Ethiopia Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia |
Addis Ababa | 1,104,300 | 105,163,988 | 92.7 | 3,719 | 0.492 | Ethiopian birr (BR) (ETB) |
Afar Amharic Oromo Somali Tigrinya |
Head of State: Sahle-Work Zewde Head of Government: Abiy Ahmed |
1 January 2024 |
 |
Iran Islamic Republic of Iran |
Tehran | 1,648,195 | 79,011,700 | 48.0 | 19,942 | 0.780 | Iranian rial (Rl) (IRR) |
Persian | Head of State: Ali Khamenei Head of Government: Masoud Pezeshkian |
1 January 2024 |
 |
United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi | 83,600 | 9,282,410 | 121 | 88,962 | 0.937 | UAE dirham (AED) | Arabic | Head of State: Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Head of Government: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum |
1 January 2024 |
Application and expansion process
While there is currently no formal application process to join BRICS, any hopeful government must receive the unanimous backing of all member states to receive an invitation. It was not until the early 2020s that discussions regarding allowing new states to join the club were widely held. Leaders and senior diplomats from the participating members began to discuss the prospect of adding additional members to the organization at that point.
In August 2023, at the 15th BRICS Summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had been invited to join the organization on 1 January 2024.
On 30 December 2023, the new government of Argentina, which formally applied for BRICS membership under Alberto Fernández's government in 2022, officially declined the offer to join the bloc due to the new government's different foreign policy.
On 1 January 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates officially joined the bloc.
On 2 September 2024, Turkey officially applied to join the bloc. At the same time, Turkey is a NATO member and the European Union candidate country. Turkey has been a NATO member since 18 February 1952. Turkey's EU membership process started on 3 October 2005. The membership process was frozen on 13 March 2019. In September 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that his country would apply for membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. On 11 July 2024, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in a statement to the U.S. Newsweek magazine that they did not consider Turkey's membership in NATO as an alternative to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS.
Potential candidates for future membership
The following countries have either expressed interest in joining BRICS or have already applied for membership:
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Africa |
Americas |
Asia |
Europe |
1 - Officially applied for membership
2 - Officially invited to join, but have not yet to make a formal decision
Financial architecture
The financial architecture of BRICS is made of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). These components were signed into a treaty in 2014 and became active in 2015.
New Development Bank
The New Development Bank (NDB), formally referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank operated by the five BRICS states. The bank's primary focus of lending is infrastructure projects with authorized lending of up to $34 billion annually. South Africa hosts the African headquarters of the bank. The bank has a starting capital of $50 billion, with wealth increased to $100 billion over time. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa initially contributed $10 billion each to bring the total to $50 billion. As of 2020, it had 53 projects underway worth around $15 billion.
In 2021, Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay joined the NDB.
BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement
The BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) is a framework for protecting against global liquidity pressures. This includes currency issues where members' national currencies are being adversely affected by global financial pressures. Emerging economies that experienced rapid economic liberalization went through increased economic volatility, bringing an uncertain macroeconomic environment. The CRA competes with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Along with the New Development Bank, it is an example of increasing South-South cooperation. It was established in 2015 by the BRICS countries. The legal basis is formed by the Treaty for the Establishment of a BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement, signed in Fortaleza in July 2014. With its inaugural meetings of the BRICS CRA Governing Council and Standing Committee, held on 4 September 2015, in Ankara, Turkey It entered into force upon ratification by all BRICS states, announced at the 7th BRICS summit in July 2015.
BRICS payment system
At the 2015 BRICS summit in Russia, ministers from the BRICS states initiated consultations for a payment system that would be an alternative to the SWIFT system. The stated goal was to initially move to settlements in national currencies. The Central Bank of Russia highlighted the main benefits as backup and redundancy in case there were disruptions to the SWIFT system.
China also launched its alternative to SWIFT: the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, which enables financial institutions worldwide to send and receive information about financial transactions. India also has its alternative Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS), as do Russia SPFS and Brazil Pix.
Potential common currency
BRICS countries committed to study the feasibility of a new common currency or similar, at the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa. Fair and easier international trade as well as a major reduction in costs of transactions would be some of the reasons why the countries could forge a currency union.
BRICS Pro Tempore Presidency
The group at each summit elects one of the heads of state of the component countries to serve as President Pro Tempore of the BRICS.
In 2019, the pro tempore presidency was held by the president of Brazil.
The theme of the 11th BRICS summit was "BRICS: economic growth for an innovative Future", and the priorities of the Brazilian Pro Tempore Presidency for 2019 are the following – Strengthening the cooperation in Science, technology, and innovation; Enhancement of the cooperation on digital economy; Invigoration of the cooperation on the fight against transnational crime; Encouragement to the rapprochement between the New Development Bank (NDB) and the BRICS Business Council.
Currently, the new President Pro Tempore is from Russia and their goals are: investing in BRICS countries to strengthen everyone's economies, cooperating in the energy and environmental industries, helping with young children, and coming up with resolutions on migration and peacekeeping.
Current leaders
Current leading highest state representatives:
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See also
In Spanish: BRICS para niños
- Belt and Road Initiative
- BRICS Games
- Developing country
- East–West dichotomy
- Emerging power
- List of BRICS summit attendees
- List of country groupings
- List of multilateral free-trade agreements
- MIKTA
- G7
- Potential superpowers
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
