What Is the BRICS Group and Why Is It Expanding?

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Introduction

The countries that comprise BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, as well as five new members—are an informal grouping of emerging economies hoping to increase their sway in the global order. Established in 2009, BRICS was founded on the premise that international institutions were overly dominated by Western powers and had ceased to serve developing countries. The bloc has sought to coordinate its members’ economic and diplomatic policies, found new financial institutions, and reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar.

However, BRICS has struggled with internal divisions on a range of issues, including relations with the United States and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, its growing membership is both expanding its clout and introducing new tensions. Although some analysts warn that the bloc could undermine the Western-led international order, skeptics say its ambitions to create its own currency and develop a workable alternative to existing institutions face potentially insurmountable challenges. 

The 2025 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is set to take place July 6–7 and will focus on global governance reforms, as well as cooperation among the Global South community. However, collaboration remains tenuous, as the leaders of both China and Russia have said they will not travel to Rio for the annual meeting. 

Why does BRICS matter?

The coalition is not a formal organization, but rather a loose bloc of non-Western economies that coordinate economic and diplomatic efforts around a shared goal. BRICS countries seek to build an alternative to what they see as the dominance of the Western viewpoint in major multilateral groupings, such as the World Bank, the Group of Seven (G7), and the UN Security Council.

The group’s 2024 expansion came with a range of geopolitical implications. It represents growing economic and demographic heft: the eleven BRICS countries now comprise more than a quarter of the global economy and almost half of the world’s population. The group is poised to exert influence over the wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, the shape of the global economic system, the competition between China and the West, and efforts to transition to clean energy.

Growing membership also brings new challenges, however, including increasing pushback from Western counties and divisions within the bloc. Experts say that how BRICS members navigate those tensions will determine whether the group can become a more unified voice on the global stage.

What are its origins?

The term was originally coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in a 2001 research paper, in which he argued that the growth of what was then the “BRIC” countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) was poised to challenge the dominant G7 wealthy economies.

Russia was the first to call a convening of the four countries, a decision analysts say was driven by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s growing desire to create a counterweight to the West. Russia hosted the first official BRIC summit in 2009, and South Africa joined a year later by invitation from China, forming the five-country grouping that would last for more than a decade.

The next wave of expansion came at the 2023 BRICS Summit, with invitations extended to six newcomers: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All accepted except Argentina; President Javier Milei pledged to turn the country in a pro-West direction, saying that it would not “ally with communists.” Saudi Arabia has reportedly accepted the membership, but has delayed officially joining without giving detailed further explanation. The bloc then welcomed Indonesia as its newest member last year.

It also introduced a new “partner countries” category at its 2024 summit. Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan were the first countries to get the designation. While falling short of full member status, the “partner countries” classification allows them to participate in BRICS summits. 

What does BRICS do?

The BRICS heads of state convene annually, with each country taking a one-year chairmanship to set priorities and host a summit. The bloc relies on consensus-based decision-making and is largely informal: it has no defining charter, secretariat, or common funds.

A few thematic areas underscore its priorities:

Advocate for greater representation in global organizations. BRICS seeks to establish a united front of emerging economy perspectives in multilateral institutions. The group aims both to push for reform of existing institutions, such as expanding the UN Security Council, and to form negotiating blocs within those institutions. For instance, many BRICS countries opposed the UN condemnation of Russia’s war in Ukraine and have sought common positions on the Iran nuclear program and conflicts in Afghanistan, Gaza, Libya, and Syria.

Coordinate economic policy. The 2008 global recession hit the BRICS countries hard, leading the group to emphasize economic coordination on issues such as tariff policy, export restrictions of critical resources, and investment. The bloc’s annual foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows more than quadrupled from 2001 to 2021, though they have slowed in recent years.

Reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar. Increasingly disgruntled over the domination of the dollar in global transactions—which exposes them to Western sanctions—BRICS leaders have long advocated for de-dollarization in favor of increased trade in local currencies or even a potential common BRICS currency.

Create an alternative finance system. The group’s New Development Bank (NDB) and Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) are meant to mimic the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), respectively. BRICS members hope that alternative lending institutions can invigorate South-South cooperation and reduce dependence on traditional funding sources. 

How effective have the BRICS financial institutions been?

The NDB and the CRA were designed as an alternative to the so-called Bretton Woods arrangement, the mainstream global financial system founded by leading industrial countries in the aftermath of World War II. Many countries of the Global South believe those institutions, especially the World Bank and the IMF, are failing to meet the needs of poorer nations, particularly in areas such as climate financing.

“This system was created by rich countries to benefit rich countries,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres has argued. “Practically no African country was sitting at the table of the Bretton Woods Agreement.”

The two institutions operate in different ways. The CRA, a common fund among the BRICS central banks that offers support during a currency crisis, is limited to BRICS countries. The NDB, however, opened to private projects in other emerging-market countries in 2021.

The NDB offers loans, guarantees, and other financial mechanisms to support private projects that contribute to sustainable development and building out infrastructure. It is intended to offer more flexibility, greater equality among shareholders, and easier access to funds as opposed to the World Bank, which spreads its attention across 190 members. Its lending focuses on clean energy, transportation, sanitation, and social development, and it has sought to devote 40 percent of its projects to tackling climate change. To date, the bank has approved more than $32 billion for ninety-six projects since operations began in 2016.

However, those efforts face roadblocks. The NDB is more than five times [PDF] smaller than the World Bank, and experts doubt it could completely replace it. Others contend that its ambitions to redesign the global financial system have fallen short, as it maintains many of the practices of its competitors. It has also faced criticism for vague commitments on environmental and social impact standards.

Can a BRICS currency replace the dollar?

The BRICS countries have sought to reduce the primacy of the U.S. dollar in international trade for more than a decade, primarily by increasing the use of their own currencies for trading, especially China’s renminbi. There is also a push to introduce a new, BRICS-wide currency, an idea that Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has helped champion. Other monetary proposals laid out at the 2023 summit included founding a new cryptocurrency or using a combined basket of BRICS currencies.

Skeptics say those ambitions are far from reach, however. A BRICS currency would require major political compromises, including a banking union, a fiscal union, and general macroeconomic convergence. The dollar, long the world’s principal reserve currency, is still used in more than 80 percent of global trade, and many experts doubt that a new BRICS reserve currency would be stable or reliable enough to be widely trusted for global transactions.

What has divided BRICS members?

According to experts, in addition to challenges to implementing their economic vision, the BRICS countries also face increasing internal tensions and rivalry among members. China and India have seen tensions rise over their decades-old border dispute as well as their growing competition for economic and geopolitical leadership of the Global South. The group has already had problems in making decisions; at a foreign ministers’ meeting in New York in September 2024, leaders sought to propose a model for streamlining new additions to the UN Security Council, but the group could not muster an agreement. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also deepened fissures. It sparked widespread condemnation, Western-led sanctions, and diplomatic pressure to stop trading with Russia, disconcerting its BRICS allies. An International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for Putin’s arrest over war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine complicated the 2023 BRICS forum, forcing Putin to stay home or risk arrest by ICC member South Africa—a dilemma Russia avoided in 2024 when it hosted the summit. Most BRICS members have sought a middle ground, while other members have largely ignored Western sanctions. Some analysts argue the Western sanctions on Russian oil and other necessities are in fact pushing BRICS countries closer together.

Meanwhile, economic and political instability in member countries has also shaken confidence in BRICS efforts. Over the past decade, Brazil and South Africa have faced collapsing state capacity, yearslong recessions, chronic corruption, and crumbling infrastructure. China’s economic slump also threatens the group’s dynamism. Other major dividing lines include tensions between democracies and autocracies, and long-standing rivalries such as those between Saudi Arabia and Iran and between Egypt and Ethiopia.

Why the expansion?

The push to grow membership is another fault line in the bloc. China and Russia have favored expansion, while Brazil and India were more hesitant, concerned it could dilute their own influence. India’s growing rivalry with China further fueled its desire not to prop up China’s power by expanding the group to include more countries in Beijing’s orbit.

The addition of Egypt and Ethiopia will amplify voices from the African continent. Egypt has close commercial ties with both China and India, and political ties with Russia. As a new BRICS member, Egypt seeks to attract more investment and improve its battered economy. China has long courted Ethiopia, the third-biggest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, with billions of dollars of investment in the hopes of making the country a hub in its Belt and Road Initiative.

The addition of Saudi Arabia and the UAE would bring in the two biggest economies in the Arab world and the second and eighth top oil producers globally. They also play mediation roles in other regions, with Saudi Arabia participating in peace talks for Sudan’s civil war and the war in Ukraine and the UAE hosting India-Pakistan stability talks. However, some experts warn that the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in which they have at times supported opposing sides of conflicts, could carry into BRICS. Others say both countries are hoping that BRICS membership will help them focus on economic development.

The new members bring questions, however, over relations with the West. Iran and Russia are staunch adversaries of U.S. influence, while China sees itself as locked in economic and geopolitical competition with the United States. Still, Brazil, India, and even South Africa have warmer relations with the United States, and likewise Saudi Arabia and the UAE are its major security partners.

How have Western countries responded?

Western countries have largely downplayed the group’s growth. The Joe Biden administration, which was in power during the expansion, said Washington didn’t see BRICS as a geopolitical rival and largely dismissed its efforts to move away from the dollar. Other political analyses claim the BRICS countries’ ambitions are exaggerated, and its members’ domestic headwinds are troubling enough to hamper any real threat to Western economic health.

Still, some European policymakers have cautioned that the anti-West sentiment is growing more confrontational. They see the expansion as the result of a lackluster Western response to low-income countries’ needs, and say Western countries need to begin reforming financial institutions in earnest.

“The accusation that the West is arrogant toward the needs of the Global South is serious. It cannot be answered by offering ‘value-based partnerships’ and a ‘rules-based’ multilateralism when the interest of the BRICS is focused on changing those rules in global finance, trade, and other standard-setting procedures,” wrote Günther Maihold, senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Other analysts say the BRICS de-dollarization efforts could eventually undermine the strength of the dollar and thus the health of the U.S. economy. Yet U.S. President Donald Trump has shown particular disdain toward the bloc, telling reporters in February 2025 that “BRICS is dead.” He has repeatedly threatened BRICS members with 100 percent tariffs if they move to undercut the dollar.

What’s next for BRICS?

Brazil holds the rotating BRICS presidency this year, taking over from Russia, and hosting the group’s annual summit in Rio de Janeiro in July. Brazil’s turn at the helm—as a country friendly with the United States—will likely diverge from the anti-Western direction Russia sought during its presidency. 

The Brazilian government’s stated aims for its tenure are to implement “reforms to the global governance system” to include better emerging country participation and improve Global South cooperation “for more inclusive and sustainable governance.” 

However, the goal of more cooperation could prove challenging this year, as two foundational members will be markedly absent. In the days leading up to the summit, both China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Putin have said they won’t attend the meeting. Xi cannot attend due to a schedule conflict, his office said—the first time he will not be at the group’s annual meeting since taking power in 2013. Beijing will send Premier Li Qiang in his place. Putin cannot go due to the same ICC arrest warrant that prevented him from being at the South Africa summit in 2023. However, he is expected to participate via video link.

The summit comes as several members have clashed with the United States in recent months. On top of fomenting trade tensions with countries around the world—especially China—Trump has ignited tensions with Iran after bombing its major nuclear sites in a June 21 stealth attack. He has also damaged the U.S. relationship with South Africa by promoting debunked claims of “white genocide” in the country.

Meanwhile, BRICS hopes to continue expanding. Current members have indicated that they seek to bring in more members and partner countries that will help them gain access to other regional trade blocs. The group is attracting plenty of BRICS hopefuls: more than thirty countries reportedly applied to join the bloc in 2024, including Azerbaijan, Malaysia, and Turkey. Their prospective entries will likely be discussed at the summit.