BRICs, a term coined in 2001, represented the rising economic interests of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. In 2009, the group formed an informal club, adding South Africa as member the following year. Last month, the bloc announced that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the UAE would join the bloc as of January 2024. The expansion will increase the group’s share of the global population from roughly 41% to 46%, and of global GDP from 26% to 29%. The expansion further comes at a time when political and economic interests are shifting toward a multi-polar environment where points of convergence are less clear. While the group now represents nearly half of world’s population, it’s not clear that the expanded group will be more successful in closing the income gap with their more developed nation peers.
Source: IMF, WTO, World Population Review