GLOSSARY
BRICS: what they are, who belongs, and what their documents say
Updated 19 September 2026
When an article on this site mentions “the BRICS” or “the BRICS declaration”, it assumes the reader already knows what that is. Often they do not: it is a group of States with no founding treaty, much discussed but little known in its membership, rules and numbers. This entry is updatable: every change is recorded at the bottom, with date and source.
What it is
BRICS is the name of a group of States whose heads of State and government meet at an annual summit. It began as an economic acronym, coined in 2001 by the economist Jim O'Neill, then at Goldman Sachs, for Brazil, Russia, India and China. The group, then BRIC, was formalised in 2006 with the first meeting of foreign ministers on the margins of the UN General Assembly, and the first leaders' summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. South Africa was included in 2010 and attended its first summit, in Sanya, in 2011.
Who belongs
Eleven members: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been full members since January 2024, Indonesia since January 2025, according to the official site of the 2026 Indian chairship.
Saudi Arabia's status is nonetheless contested. The Indian chairship's site lists it among the eleven, as did the official site of the 2025 Brazilian chairship; Riyadh, however, takes part as an “invited country”, and Reuters reported in May 2025 that it had held off formally joining. The InfoBRICS portal, in its introductory text, lists ten members without Saudi Arabia: the divergence exists even among sources close to the bloc.
There is also a category of “partner countries”, created at the Kazan summit (October 2024). There are ten, all of which joined in 2025: Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
How it works
The group has no founding treaty: it describes itself as an informal group, and its reference documents are the summit declarations (Johannesburg 2023, Kazan 2024, Rio 2025, New Delhi 2026), which set admissions and categories. The chair rotates every year (2024 Russia, 2025 Brazil, 2026 India, 2027 China) and declarations are adopted by consensus. There is no common currency. Institutions linked to the group do have treaties of their own, such as the New Development Bank, the group's development bank, and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, a financial support mechanism among members. ¶138 of the 2026 declaration calls the group's institutional development “a continuous process”.
Why the numbers matter
Population. Almost half of humanity: the official site of the Indian chairship gives 49.5%, with no year or method (other estimates: 48.5%).
GDP at nominal values. 35.2 trillion dollars, 27.9% of the world total (126.3 trillion). Without Saudi Arabia: 26.8%.
GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP). 91.3 trillion international dollars, 41.0% of the world total (222.8 trillion). Without Saudi Arabia: 39.7%. The official site of the Indian chairship gives 40% of world GDP without specifying the measure: on IMF data, 40% corresponds to PPP, not to nominal value. That is why this entry always reports both.
China's weight. About 59% of the bloc's nominal GDP and 48% of its PPP GDP; with India it reaches 71% of the nominal total. In nominal terms the G7 remains larger (55.3 trillion, 43.8% of the world); in PPP it is smaller (62.3 trillion, 28.0%).
Method: sum of IMF World Economic Outlook values (April 2026), 2026 estimates, the editor's calculation. Other sources give different figures because they use different perimeters (10 or 11 members) or editions. Demographic and economic weight does not mean cohesion or mutual approval: members include States on opposite sides of ongoing conflicts.
Relations with the international courts
All eleven are parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as UN members. Accepting its compulsory jurisdiction in advance (Article 36(2)) is quite different, and holds for a minority of the world's States (about 75 out of 193, as the ICJ entry explains). For the International Criminal Court (ICC), what counts is ratification or signature of the Rome Statute.
Parties to the Rome Statute: Brazil (2002) and South Africa (2000). Signed, never ratified: Egypt, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (2000). Signature withdrawn: Russia (2016). Never signed: China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
Compulsory ICJ jurisdiction: India (2019, with reservations), Egypt (1957, limited to disputes under paragraph 9(b) of the declaration on the Suez Canal) and Iran (2023, limited to the jurisdictional immunities of the State and its property; filed the day before it brought Canada before the Court). No declaration for Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE. ICJ jurisdiction may still arise from specific treaties, such as the Genocide Convention: the South Africa v. Israel case rests on that.
Where to find official sources
The group has no permanent website: each chairship opens its own (2026: brics2026.gov.in, launched on 13 January 2026; 2025: brics.br). They are sites of the government in office, hence sources with a stake as regards members and results: they must be declared as such. InfoBRICS is not an institutional site but a news and analysis portal with a marked editorial line: it should not be used as a source for facts.
Update log
19 September 2026 — entry created after the New Delhi summit (12-13 September 2026): members, partners, IMF April 2026 figures, overview of membership of the ICJ and the ICC.
Sources: brics2026.gov.in — Indian chairship · brics.br — 2025 Brazilian chairship · New Delhi Declaration (12/09/2026) · InfoBRICS · Wikipedia — Member states of BRICS · IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026 · IMF WEO, country data (StatisticsTimes) · ICJ — States and Article 36(2) declarations · ICJ — Iran's declaration · ICJ — Egypt's declaration · CFR — Rome Statute · Wikipedia — States parties to the Rome Statute