New Delhi: BRICS is an informal intergovernmental organisation consisting of ten countries. Four countries were part of it when it was formed. The founder member countries were Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and they were known as BRIC. The term BRIC was originally identified to highlight opportunities. The BRIC held its first leader’s summit in Russia in 2009.
South Africa attended the second BRIC summit as a guest in 2010 and became a member in September 2010. It became the fifth country to join the BRIC group. At the third summit in 2011, the group officially changed its name to BRICS.
In 2024, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) attended their first summit as member states. At the beginning of 2025, Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian member to join the group.
The group that started as BRIC and then became BRICS has a new acronym, BRICS+, which has been used informally to reflect new membership. Let us learn about the BRICS+ countries and when they joined the group.
The Origin and Evolution of BRICS: From BRIC to BRICS+
BRICS Countries List
Started with four countries, BRICS+ now has ten countries. Let us look at them:
- Brazil
- Russia
- India
- China
- South Africa
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Iran
- UAE
- Indonesia
Meet the BRICS Members
Let us briefly look at their year of joining, capital, and currency.
Country | Capital | Currency | Joining Date |
Brazil | Brasília | Brazilian real (R$) (BRL) | 2009 (Founding member) |
Russia | Moscow | Russian rouble (₽) (RUB) | 2009 (Founding member) |
India | New Delhi | Indian rupee (₹) (INR) | 2009 (Founding member) |
China | Beijing | Renminbi (Chinese yuan, ¥) (CNY) | 2009 (Founding member) |
South Africa | Pretoria (executive) Cape Town (legislative) Bloemfontein (judicial) | South African rand (R) (ZAR) | 2010 |
Egypt | Cairo | Egyptian pound (LE) (EGP) | 2024 |
Ethiopia | Addis Ababa | Ethiopian birr (Br) (ETB) | 2024 |
Iran | Tehran | Iranian rial (Rl) (IRR) | 2024 |
United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi | UAE dirham (Dh) (AED) | 2024 |
Indonesia | Jakarta | Indonesian rupiah (Rp) (IDR) | 2025 |
How did the idea of BRIC come up?
The term BRIC refers to a group of countries that include Brazil, Russia, India, and China. It was created in 2001 by Jim O’Neill, who worked for Goldman Sachs. O’Neill initially intended the term to help guide foreign investment strategies. However, he later changed his opinion and now considers BRICS a failed project. In a 2021 article, he stated that these countries have not been able to come together as a strong global force. By 2024, he felt it was clear that BRICS mainly generates empty gestures and grand statements.
The foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China met for the first time in New York City in September 2006 during the UN Assembly. This meeting started a series of high-level talks. A full diplomatic meeting took place in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009.
The first official BRIC summit also happened in Yekaterinburg on June 16, 2009, attended by leaders Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from Brazil, Dmitry Medvedev from Russia, Manmohan Singh from India, and Hu Jintao from China. They focused on improving the global economy, reforming financial institutions, and discussing how these nations could better collaborate. They also talked about how other developing countries could have a larger role in global matters.
After the 2009 summit, the BRIC nations needed a new global reserve currency. They stated it should be diverse, stable, and predictable. While they didn’t directly criticise the US dollar’s dominance, their statement led to a drop in the dollar’s value against major currencies.
Why in the news?
President Donald Trump has warned that he will impose 100 per cent tariffs on BRICS countries if they try to replace the US dollar in international trade. He told them to find “another sucker nation”.
“BRICS countries trying to move away from the dollar while we watch is OVER,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Trump wants these “seemingly hostile” countries to promise that they will not create a new BRICS currency or support any other currency to replace the US dollar. “Otherwise, they will face 100 per cent tariffs and should expect to lose access to the great US economy,” Trump said.
BRICS Countries List: This article explores the expansion of BRICS, tracing its journey from the initial four BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to the current ten-member BRICS group. Furthermore, it examines the historical context of BRICS’ formation, its initial purpose as a foreign investment strategy, and its evolving role in the global economy, including recent controversies surrounding potential challenges to the US dollar’s dominance. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge