What began in 2001 as a term coined by Goldman Sachs to describe four promising emerging markets has, twenty-five years on, grown into a geopolitical bloc spanning four continents.
The grouping now comprises 11 countries representing 49.5% of the world's population, 40% of global GDP and 26% of global trade, with India chairing the bloc for a fourth time this year under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."
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How It Was Established
Goldman Sachs' 2001 paper projected that Brazil, Russia, India and China would become among the world's largest economies within five decades.
The concept became a formal forum in 2006, followed by the first BRIC summit in Yekaterinburg in 2009, partly in response to gaps in global governance exposed by the 2008 financial crisis. South Africa joined in 2011, transforming BRIC into BRICS.
The Journey Of Expansion
Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE became full members in January 2024, followed by Indonesia in January 2025. A new Partner Country category also emerged, with ten nations, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Vietnam, joining during 2025 to broaden South-South cooperation.
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Members And Their Weight
China and India together account for nearly 70% of the BRICS economy, 48.5% and 20.7% respectively, per IMF data.
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The bloc's global GDP share has more than doubled since 2006, from 20.4% to 41% in 2026, even as the G7's share has fallen from 43.4% to 28% over the same period.
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India's Repeated Chairships
India has now chaired BRICS four times, 2012, 2016, 2021 and 2026. The 2012 summit proposed the New Development Bank; 2016 operationalised its first loans; and the 2021 summit delivered a unified counter-terrorism action plan and a joint vaccine research centre.
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2026 And What Lies Ahead
Since January, India has convened over 350 ministerial meetings across 25 cities, yielding outcomes across agriculture, mental health, MSMEs and smart grids.
Amid global fragmentation and uncertainty, India's goal is converting BRICS' expanded scale into "meaningful cooperation and tangible outcomes."
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