Since the beginning of the 21st century, the BRICS countries have been considered the five foremost developing economies in the world. Originally, the term BRIC was used by economists when talking about the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, however these countries have held annual summits since 2009, and the group has expanded to include South Africa since 2010. China has the largest GDP of the BRICS country, at 16.86 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021, while the others are all below three trillion. Combined, the BRICS bloc has a GDP over 25.85 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022, which is slightly more than the United States. BRICS economic development China has consistently been the largest economy of this bloc, and its rapid growth has seen it become the second largest economy in the world, behind the U.S.. China's growth has also been much faster than the other BRICS countries; for example, when compared with the second largest BRICS economy, its GDP was less than double the size of Brazil's in 2000, but is almost six times larger than India's in 2021. Since 2000, the country with the second largest GDP has fluctuated between Brazil, Russia, and India, due to a variety of factors, although India has held this position since 2015 (when the other two experienced recession), and it's growth rate is on track to surpass China's in the coming decade. South Africa has consistently had the smallest economy of the BRICS bloc, and it has just the third largest economy in Africa; its inclusion in this group is due to the fact that it is the most advanced and stable major economy in Africa, and it holds strategic importance due to the financial potential of the continent in the coming decades. Future developments It is predicted that China's GDP will overtake that of the U.S. by the end of the 2020s, to become the largest economy in the world, while some also estimate that India will also overtake the U.S. around the middle of the century. Additionally, the BRICS group is more than just an economic or trading bloc, and its New Development Bank was established in 2014 to invest in sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy across the globe. While relations between its members were often strained or of less significance in the 20th century, their current initiatives have given them a much greater international influence. The traditional great powers represented in the Group of Seven (G7) have seen their international power wane in recent decades, while BRICS countries have seen theirs grow, especially on a regional level. Today, the original BRIC countries combine with the Group of Seven (G7), to make up 11 of the world's 12 largest economies, but it is predicted that they will move further up on this list in the coming decades.

For most of the past two decades, China had the highest GDP growth of any of the BRICS countries, although it was overtaken by India in the mid-2010s, and India is predicted to have the highest growth in the 2020s. All five countries saw their GDP growth fall during the global financial crisis in 2008, and again during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020; China was the only economy that continued to grow during both crises, although India's economy also grew during the Great Recession. In 2014, Brazil experienced its own recession due to a combination of economic and political instability, while Russia also went into recession due to the drop in oil prices and the economic sanctions imposed following its annexation of Crimea.

Trade facilitation is essential for enhancing the import and export of agricultural products between China and BRICS countries. Improving trade efficiency and identifying potential opportunities contribute to establishing formal cooperation mechanisms among nations, laying a robust foundation for the development and collaboration of BRICS countries post-expansion. This study developed a comprehensive indicator system and employed principal component analysis to assess trade facilitation levels among BRICS member states. Additionally, we employed a stochastic frontier gravity model to examine the trade efficiency and potential impact of BRICS trade facilitation on China’s agricultural imports and exports from 2009 to 2022. The findings suggest that the overall level of trade facilitation in BRICS countries remains relatively low, with considerable scope for enhancement. The United Arab Emirates exhibits the highest level of trade facilitation, whereas Ethiopia shows the lowest. Factors such as economic status, business environment, and advancements in technology positively influence trade efficiency, while inadequate infrastructure impedes it. A notable disparity exists in the average trade efficiency of agricultural imports and exports between China and BRICS countries, with Russia displaying the highest efficiency and Iran the lowest. Brazil demonstrates significant trade potential, whereas the trade demand between Iran and China is comparatively minimal. The results are important for policymakers, pointing to the need for specialized trade policies and agricultural management strategies that reflect the diverse characteristics and challenges within BRICS economies.

The size of the five original BRICS economies in 2023 - Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa - is comparable to the United States and the EU-27 put together. On a PPP (purchasing power parity) basis, China ranks as the world's largest economy. India takes up the economic parity of about **** the EU-27. The rise of these developing economies gave rise to questions on the role the United States plays in international trade and cross-border finance. FX reserve managers around the world expect to shift their holdings towards the Chinese yuan in the long term, as of 2023.

The aim of the article is to compare health system outcomes in the BRICS countries, assess the trends of their changes in 2000−2017, and verify whether they are in any way correlated with the economic context. The indicators considered were: nominal and per capita current health expenditure, government health expenditure, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, GDP growth, unemployment, inflation, and composition of GDP. The study covered five countries of the BRICS group over a period of 18 years. We decided to characterize countries covered with a dataset of selected indicators describing population health status, namely: life expectancy at birth, level of immunization, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, and tuberculosis case detection rate. We constructed a unified synthetic measure depicting the performance of individual health systems in terms of their outcomes with a single numerical value. Descriptive statistical analysis of quantitative traits consisted of the arithmetic mean (xsr), standard deviation (SD), and, where needed, the median. The normality of the distribution of variables was tested with the Shapiro–Wilk test. Spearman's rho and Kendall tau rank coefficients were used for correlation analysis between measures. The correlation analyses have been supplemented with factor analysis. We found that the best results in terms of health care system performance were recorded in Russia, China, and Brazil. India and South Africa are noticeably worse. However, the entire group performs visibly worse than the developed countries. The health system outcomes appeared to correlate on a statistically significant scale with health expenditures per capita, governments involvement in health expenditures, GDP per capita, and industry share in GDP; however, these correlations are relatively weak, with the highest strength in the case of government's involvement in health expenditures and GDP per capita. Due to weak correlation with economic background, other factors may play a role in determining health system outcomes in BRICS countries. More research should be recommended to find them and determine to what extent and how exactly they affect health system outcomes.

In 2021, the BRICS countries with the highest estimated GDP per capita were Russia and China, with between 12,000 and 13,000 U.S. dollars per person. Brazil and South Africa's GDP per capita are thought to be closer to the 7,000 mark, while India's GDP per capita is just over 2,000 U.S. dollars. This a significant contrast to figures for overall GDP, where China has the largest economy by a significant margin, while India's is the second largest. The reason for this disparity is due to population size. For example, both China's population and overall GDP are roughly 10 times larger than those of Russia, which results in them having a comparable GDP per capita. Additionally, India's population is 23 times larger than South Africa's, but it's GDP is just seven times larger; this results in South Africa having a higher GDP per capita than India, despite it being the smallest of the BRICS economies.

The BRICS countries overtook the G7 countries share of the world's total gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2018. By 2024, the difference had increased even further, the BRICS now holding a total 35 percent of the world's GDP compared to 30 percent held by the G7 countries.

Of the four largest G7 and BRICS economies respectively, India and Brazil consistently had the highest monthly unemployment rates, while Russia and Japan had the lowest.

Russia Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services: Inflow: Non CIS: BRICS: EUR data was reported at 44.600 % in Dec 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 47.600 % for Sep 2021. Russia Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services: Inflow: Non CIS: BRICS: EUR data is updated quarterly, averaging 3.950 % from Mar 2013 (Median) to Dec 2021, with 36 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 79.500 % in Dec 2020 and a record low of 0.500 % in Mar 2014. Russia Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services: Inflow: Non CIS: BRICS: EUR data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bank of Russia. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Foreign Trade – Table RU.JAA004: Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services. Data release delayed due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict. No estimation on next release date can be made.

In 2019, a Statista study on labor shortages showed that in 2020, ** percent of the workforce in the BRICS economies were working in medium-skilled occupations (vocational training), with this share increasing to ** percent by 2030.

In 2023, it is estimated that the BRICS countries have a combined population of 3.25 billion people, which is over 40 percent of the world population. The majority of these people live in either China or India, which have a population of more than 1.4 billion people each, while the other three countries have a combined population of just under 420 million. Comparisons Although the BRICS countries are considered the five foremost emerging economies, they are all at various stages of the demographic transition and have different levels of population development. For all of modern history, China has had the world's largest population, but rapidly dropping fertility and birth rates in recent decades mean that its population growth has slowed. In contrast, India's population growth remains much higher, and it is expected to overtake China in the next few years to become the world's most populous country. The fastest growing population in the BRICS bloc, however, is that of South Africa, which is at the earliest stage of demographic development. Russia, is the only BRICS country whose population is currently in decline, and it has been experiencing a consistent natural decline for most of the past three decades. Growing populations = growing opportunities Between 2000 and 2026, the populations of the BRICS countries is expected to grow by 625 million people, and the majority of this will be in India and China. As the economies of these two countries grow, so too do living standards and disposable income; this has resulted in the world's two most populous countries emerging as two of the most profitable markets in the world. China, sometimes called the "world's factory" has seen a rapid growth in its middle class, increased potential of its low-tier market, and its manufacturing sector is now transitioning to the production of more technologically advanced and high-end goods to meet its domestic demand.

Time series trade data for all BRICS countries

In 2023, the gross government debt in China is projected to reach around 14 trillion U.S. dollars, significantly higher than the gross government debt of other BRICS economies at this time. The major emerging economy with the lowest government debt is expected to be South Africa with 275 billion U.S. dollars.

While the BRICS countries are grouped together in terms of economic development, demographic progress varies across these five countries. In 2019, India and South Africa were the only BRICS countries with a fertility rate above replacement level (2.1 births per woman). Fertility rates since 2000 show that fertility in China and Russia has either fluctuated or remained fairly steady, as these two countries are at a later stage of the demographic transition than the other three, while Brazil has reached this stage more recently. Fertility rates in India are following a similar trend to Brazil, while South Africa's rate is progressing at a much slower pace. Demographic development is inextricably linked with economic growth; for example, as fertility rates drop, female participation in the workforce increases, as does the average age, which then leads to higher productivity and a more profitable domestic market.

In 2019, a Statista study on labor shortages showed that in 2020, ** percent of the workforce in the BRICS economies were working in low-skilled occupations (vocational training), with this share decreasing to ** percent by 2030.

Russia (FDI) Foreign Direct Investment: BoP Data: Inward: ow BRICs data was reported at 17.653 USD mn in Sep 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 83.168 USD mn for Jun 2018. Russia (FDI) Foreign Direct Investment: BoP Data: Inward: ow BRICs data is updated quarterly, averaging 83.168 USD mn from Mar 2008 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 43 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.025 USD bn in Mar 2014 and a record low of -359.003 USD mn in Sep 2017. Russia (FDI) Foreign Direct Investment: BoP Data: Inward: ow BRICs data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by The Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Balance of Payments – Table RU.JBB005: Inward Foreign Direct Investments: by Economic and Monetary Zones.

The article examines causal relationships between sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) prices for the BRICS and most important EU economies (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain) during the European debt crisis. The cross-correlation function (CCF) approach used in the research distinguishes between causality-in-mean and causality-in-variance. In both causality dimensions, the BRICS CDS prices tend to Granger cause those of the EU counterparts with the exception of Germany. Italy and Spain exhibit the highest dependence on the BRICS, whereas only India has a negative balance of outgoing and incoming causal linkages among the BRICS. Thus, the paper underscores the signs of decoupling effects in the sovereign CDS market and also supports the view that the European debt crisis has so far had a limited non-EU impact in this market.

Relevant economic and financial characteristics of BRICS.

This dataset contains the variables used in this power sector policy paper, expect CO2 emission intensity (IEA database) data due to IEA licensing agreement as the product was purchased from them. The dataset contains data on 34 OECD countries (while the analysis only included 34) and 5 BRICS countries, from 1990 - 2019. The power sector policy paper uses a time period from 2000-2018 (with some models running to 2019 using IEA estimates).

The variables used in the analysis are: - CO2 emission intensity per KWh (Data not included due to copy right from IEA, 3 example data points included for refererence). - Emission trading system price, both national and with adjusted price by relative size for sub-national systems (Cross-referenced from several sources). - Feed-in tariffs for solar PV and wind (OECD.Stat database). - Public environmental R&D and patent data on climate change mitigation technologies related to (1) energy generation, transmission or distribution (OECD.Stat green growth database). - Industrial energy consumption (OECD.Stat database). - GDP per capita, Industry share of GDP, Residental electricity consumption (World bank indicators). - Installed renewable energy capacity (IRENA database).

Russia Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services: Inflow: Non CIS: BRICS: China: USD data was reported at 35.500 % in Dec 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 32.500 % for Sep 2021. Russia Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services: Inflow: Non CIS: BRICS: China: USD data is updated quarterly, averaging 80.450 % from Mar 2013 (Median) to Dec 2021, with 36 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 98.800 % in Mar 2014 and a record low of 10.800 % in Dec 2020. Russia Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services: Inflow: Non CIS: BRICS: China: USD data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bank of Russia. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Foreign Trade – Table RU.JAA004: Currency Composition of Settlements for Goods and Services. Data release delayed due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict. No estimation on next release date can be made.