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.

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.

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.

In 2024, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China amounted to around 18.7 trillion U.S. dollars. In comparison to the GDP of the other BRIC countries India, Russia and Brazil, China came first that year and second in the world GDP ranking. The stagnation of China's GDP in U.S. dollar terms in 2022 and 2023 was mainly due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar. China's real GDP growth was 3.1 percent in 2022 and 5.4 percent in 2023. In 2024, per capita GDP in China reached around 13,300 U.S. dollars. Economic performance in China Gross domestic product (GDP) is a primary economic indicator. It measures the total value of all goods and services produced in an economy over a certain time period. China's economy used to grow quickly in the past, but the growth rate of China’s real GDP gradually slowed down in recent years, and year-on-year GDP growth is forecasted to range at only around four percent in the years after 2024. Since 2010, China has been the world’s second-largest economy, surpassing Japan.China’s emergence in the world’s economy has a lot to do with its status as the ‘world’s factory’. Since 2013, China is the largest export country in the world. Some argue that it is partly due to the undervalued Chinese currency. The Big Mac Index, a simplified and informal way to measure the purchasing power parity between different currencies, indicates that the Chinese currency yuan was roughly undervalued by 38 percent in 2024. GDP development Although the impressive economic development in China has led millions of people out of poverty, China is still not in the league of industrialized countries on the per capita basis. To name one example, the U.S. per capita economic output was more than six times as large as in China in 2024. Meanwhile, the Chinese society faces increased income disparities. The Gini coefficient of China, a widely used indicator of economic inequality, has been larger than 0.45 over the last decade, whereas 0.40 is the warning level for social unrest.

The statistic shows GDP in India from 1987 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, GDP in India was at around 3.91 trillion U.S. dollars, and it is expected to reach six trillion by the end of the decade. See figures on India's economic growth here, and the Russian GDP for comparison. Historical development of the Indian economy In the 1950s and 1960s, the decision of the newly independent Indian government to adopt a mixed economy, adopting both elements of both capitalist and socialist systems, resulted in huge inefficiencies borne out of the culture of interventionism that was a direct result of the lackluster implementation of policy and failings within the system itself. The desire to move towards a Soviet style mass planning system failed to gain much momentum in the Indian case due to a number of hindrances, an unskilled workforce being one of many.When the government of the early 90’s saw the creation of small-scale industry in large numbers due to the removal of price controls, the economy started to bounce back, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union - India’s main trading partner - the hampering effects of socialist policy on the economy were exposed and it underwent a large-scale liberalization. By the turn of the 21st century, India was rapidly progressing towards a free-market economy. India’s development has continued and it now belongs to the BRICS group of fast developing economic powers, and the incumbent Modi administration has seen India's GDP double during its first decade in power.

The graph shows per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in China until 2024, with forecasts until 2030. In 2024, per capita GDP reached around 13,300 U.S. dollars in China. That year, the overall GDP of China had amounted to 18.7 trillion U.S. dollars. Per capita GDP in China Gross domestic product is a commonly-used economic indicator for measuring the state of a country's economy. GDP is the total market value of goods and services produced in a country within a given period of time, usually a year. Per capita GDP is defined as the GDP divided by the total number of people in the country. This indicator is generally used to compare the economic prosperity of countries with varying population sizes.In 2010, China overtook Japan and became the world’s second-largest economy. As of 2024, it was the largest exporter and the second largest importer in the world. However, one reason behind its economic strength lies within its population size. China has to distribute its wealth among 1.4 billion people. By 2023, China's per capita GDP was only about one fourth as large as that of main industrialized countries. When compared to other emerging markets, China ranked second among BRIC countries in terms of GDP per capita. Future development According to projections by the IMF, per capita GDP in China will escalate from around 13,300 U.S. dollars in 2024 to 18,600 U.S. dollars in 2030. Major reasons for this are comparatively high economic growth rates combined with negative population growth. China's economic structure is also undergoing changes. A major trend lies in the shift from an industry-based to a service-based economy.

In 2023, 43.51 percent of the workforce in India were employed in agriculture, while the other half was almost evenly distributed among the two other sectors, industry and services. While the share of Indians working in agriculture is declining, it is still the main sector of employment. A BRIC powerhouseTogether with Brazil, Russia, and China, India makes up the four so-called BRIC countries. They are the four fastest-growing emerging countries dubbed BRIC, an acronym, by Jim O’Neill at Goldman Sachs. Being major economies themselves already, these four countries are said to be at a similar economic developmental stage -- on the verge of becoming industrialized countries -- and maybe even dominating the global economy. Together, they are already larger than the rest of the world when it comes to GDP and simple population figures. Among these four, India is ranked second across almost all key indicators, right behind China. Services on the riseWhile most of the Indian workforce is still employed in the agricultural sector, it is the services sector that generates most of the country’s GDP. In fact, when looking at GDP distribution across economic sectors, agriculture lags behind with a mere 15 percent contribution. Some of the leading services industries are telecommunications, software, textiles, and chemicals, and production only seems to increase – currently, the GDP in India is growing, as is employment.

The euro and U.S. dollar made up more than ***** of 10 SWIFT payments worldwide in 2025, outperforming many other currencies. This is according to a monthly report meant to track the market share of China's yuan renminbi within the international bank transfer system SWIFT. Although China holds the largest forex reserves in the world, the yuan ranked as the ******-used currency in international payments. The figures concern customer-initiated and institutional payments and exclude trade. Discussions on the potential weakening role of the U.S. dollar especially touch world trade and forex. For example, the share of the USD in forex reserves declined visibly against the euro and Japanese yen in 2024. What sparked this de-dollarization trend, and will it continue? Trade sanctions and de-dollarization De-dollarization in 2024 is mentioned mostly alongside trade and the BRICS countries - an informal name given to Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The combined GDP of BRICS is about ** percent of the world's economy. After the start of the Ukraine war and Russia received economic sanctions, the BRICS slowly evolved into a trading bloc. The group increasingly wanted its own currency to settle payments within the trade bloc, to avoid using the U.S. dollar. In August 2024, BRICS will gather in South Africa to discuss the creation of such a new joint currency. Additionally, ** countries - including Argentina, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Yemen - expressed interest in joining the BRICS group. CBDC, or projects into a digital payment settlement A factor of future uncertainty for the U.S. dollar is how central bank digital currencies (CBDC) develop in emerging countries. Several projects exist between individual countries that specifically target cross-border interbank payments. A cooperation between Thailand and Hong Kong, Inthanon-Lionrock, ranks as the most advanced of these projects. CBDC does not require the U.S. dollar to function. Tangible such as commodities or gold can back them. The value of transactions processed with CBDC is to grow by ******* percent between 2024 and 2030.

The statistic shows the value of exports of goods from India from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, goods with a value of around 432 billion U.S. dollars were exported from India. Trade and economy in India Being one of the BRIC countries, India is one of the leading emerging market countries worldwide, and one of the fastest-growing economies. It is ranked second among the countries with the largest population, and is expected to have surpassed China in about 50 years. As for India’s economy, the country has been reporting a promising development of key figures over the last few years: Gross domestic product / gdp in India has been increasing significantly, while inflation in India and other indicators, such as the country’s unemployment rate, have been more or less stable. India is also among the countries with the largest gross domestic product / gdp and among those with the highest gross domestic product growth. The vast majority of India’s labor force works in agriculture – the industrial and the services sector both make up about 25 percent each of the country’s economy. India’s main export partners are the United Arab Emirates, the United States and China; the country’s leading exports include textile goods, software, and petroleum products. As for import, India mainly imports crude oil, chemicals and machinery, again, from China, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

China is the largest consumer of primary energy in the world, having used some 176.35 exajoules in 2024. This is a lot more than what the United States consumed, which comes in second place. The majority of primary energy fuels worldwide are still derived from fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. China's energy mix China’s primary energy mix has shifted from a dominant use of coal to an increase in natural gas and renewable sources. Since 2013, the renewables share in total energy consumption has grown by around eight percentage points. Overall, global primary energy consumption has increased over the last decade, and it is expected to experience the largest growth in emerging economies like the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India, and China. What is primary energy? Primary energy is the energy inherent in natural resources such as crude oil, coal, and wind before further transformation. For example, crude oil can be refined into secondary fuels, such as gasoline or diesel, while wind is harnessed for electricity - itself a secondary energy source. A country’s total primary energy supply is a measure of the country’s primary energy sources. Meanwhile, end use energy is the energy directly consumed by the user and includes primary fuels such as natural gas, as well as secondary sources, like electricity and gasoline.

The statistic shows the life expectancy at birth in India from 2013 to 2023. The average life expectancy at birth in India in 2023 was 72 years. Standard of living in India India is one of the so-called BRIC countries, an acronym which stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China, the four states considered the major emerging market countries. They are all in a similar advanced economic state and are expected to advance even further. India is also among the twenty leading countries with the largest gross domestic product / GDP, and the twenty countries with the largest proportion of global gross domestic product / GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). Its unemployment rate has been stable over the past few years; India is also among the leading import and export countries worldwide. This alone should put India in a relatively comfortable position economically speaking, however, parts of the population of India are struggling with poverty and health problems. When looking at a comparison of the median age of the population in selected countries – i.e. one half of the population is older and the other half is younger –, it can be seen that the median age of the Indian population is about twenty years less than that of the Germans or Japanese. In fact, the median age in India is significantly lower than the median age of the population of the other emerging BRIC countries – Russia, China and Brazil. Additionally, the total population of India has been steadily increasing. Regarding life expectancy, India is neither among the countries with the highest, nor among those with the lowest life expectancy at birth. The majority of the Indian population is aged between 15 and 64 years, with only about 5 percent being older than 64.