The original member states of BRICS, an international organization of world economies, consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa formally joined in 2010 and attended the 3rd BRICS summit. The organization expanded again in 2024, with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates attending the 16th BRICS summit as official members. Many other countries are partner states or have applied to join.
| Flag | Country | Capital | Area (km2) | Population (2016) | Density (/km2) | GDP per cap. (PPP)[1] | HDI[2] | Currency | Leaders | width=80 | Accession | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil Federative Republic of Brazil | 8,515,767 | 203,062,512 | 25 | Brazilian real (R$) (BRL) | Head of State | 2009-06-16 (Informally, September 2006) | ||||||
| Russia Russian Federation | 17,075,400 | 146,519,759 | 8.3 | Russian rouble (₽) (RUB) | Head of State Vladimir Putin | |||||||
| India Republic of India | 3,287,240 | 1,284,480,000 | 364.4 | Indian rupee (₹) (INR) | Head of State | |||||||
| China People's Republic of China | 9,640,011 | 1,374,820,000 | 139.6 | Renminbi (Chinese yuan, ¥) (CNY) | Head of State | |||||||
| South Africa Republic of South Africa | Pretoria (executive) Cape Town (legislative) Bloemfontein (judicial) | 1,221,037 | 58,048,332 | 42.4 | South African rand (R) (ZAR) | Head of State | 2010-12-24[4] [5] [6] [7] | -- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --> | ||||
| Egypt Arab Republic of Egypt | 1,010,408 | 105,231,000 | 103.56 | Egyptian pound (LE) (EGP) | Head of State | 2024-01-01 | ||||||
| Ethiopia Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | 1,104,300 | 105,163,988 | 92.7 | Ethiopian birr (BR) (ETB) | Head of State | |||||||
| Iran Islamic Republic of Iran | 1,648,195 | 79,011,700 | 48.0 | Iranian rial (Rl) (IRR) | Head of State Ali Khamenei | |||||||
| United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi | 83,600 | 4,106,427 | 121 | UAE dirham (AED) | Head of State |
These countries are observer states that would get support from the BRICS members, even though these countries are not officially part of the bloc.
| Flag | Country | Capital | Area (km2) | Population (2016) | Density (/km2) | GDP per cap. (PPP) | HDI | Currency | Official languages | Leaders | Application submitted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarus Republic of Belarus | Minsk | 207,595 | 9,498,700 | 45.8 | Belarusian ruble (Rbl) (BYR) | Belarusian Russian | Head of State Alexander Lukashenko | 2023 | |||
| Bolivia Plurinational State of Bolivia | Sucre | 1,098,581 | 12,186,079 | 10.4 | Boliviano (BOB) | Head of State and Government | |||||
| Cuba Republic of Cuba | Havana | 109,884 | 10,985,974 | 101.8 | Cuban peso (CUP) | Spanish | Head of State | ||||
| Indonesia Republic of Indonesia | Jakarta | 1,913,580 | 282,477,584 | 143 | 16,542 | 0.713 | Indonesian rupiah (IDR) | Indonesian | Head of State and Government | 2024[8] | |
| Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | 330,803 | 34,564,803 | 101 | 39,030 | 0.807 | Malaysian ringgit (MYR) | Malay | Head of State | 2024 | |
| Nigeria Federal Republic of Nigeria | 923,769 | 220,159,000 | 237 | Nigerian naira (NGN) | English | Head of State and Government | 2023 | ||||
| Thailand Kingdom of Thailand | Bangkok | 513,120 | 65,975,198 | 132.1 | 23,401 | 0.803 | Thai baht (THB) | Thai | Head of State | 2024 | |
| Turkey Republic of Turkey | 783,562 | 90,564,000 | 115 | Turkish lira (TRY) | Turkish | Head of State and Government | |||||
| Vietnam Socialist Republic of Vietnam | Hanoi | 331,344.82 | 100,300,000 | 298 | 15,470 | 0.726 | Vietnamese đồng (VND) | Vietnamese | Head of State |
Saudi Arabia was invited to join at the 15th BRICS summit, but has not yet formalised its approval to become a BRICS member.[9]
While Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates were not admitted as members during the 15th BRICS summit, they were among 22 countries applying for membership. South African Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said “There is a second batch of countries that are going to be added [to] BRICS." This means that there are plans for further BRICS expansion and the following countries are possible candidates due to their applications for membership [10]
| Flag | Country | Capital | Area (km2) | Population (2016) | Density (/km2) | GDP per cap. (PPP) | HDI | Currency | Official languages | Leaders | Application submitted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azerbaijan Republic of Azerbaijan | 86,600 | 9,976,248 | 117 | Azerbaijani manat (AZN) | Azerbaijani | Head of State | 2024 | |||||
| Bangladesh People's Republic of Bangladesh | 148,460 | 169,828,911 | 1,305 | Bangladeshi taka (BDT) | Bengali | Head of State and Government | 2023 | |||||
| Myanmar Republic of the Union of Myanmar | Naypyidaw | 676,578 | 53,662,135 | 79.22 | Burmese kyat (MMK) | Burmese | Head of State | 2024 | ||||
| Pakistan Islamic Republic of Pakistan | Islamabad | 881,913 | 241,499,431 | 273.8 | 6,955 | 0.540 | Pakistani rupee (PKR) | Urdu English | Head of State | 2024[11] | ||
| Senegal Republic of Senegal | Dakar | 196,722 | 18,847,519 | 90 | 4,324 | 0.517 | West African CFA franc (XOF) | FrenchWolofPulaar | Head of State | 2023[12] | ||
| Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka | Kotte | 65,610.2 | 22,037,000 | 337.7 | Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) | Sinhala Tamil | Head of State Anura Kumara Dissanayake | 2024[13] | ||||
| Syria Syrian Arab Republic | Damascus | 185,180 | 23,865,423 | 118.33 | Syrian pound (SYP) | Arabic | Head of State | 2024 | ||||
| Venezuela Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela | Caracas | 916,445 | 30,518,260 | 33.74 | 3,474 | 0.699 | Venezuelan bolívar (VED) | Spanish | Head of State and Government | 2024 |
In 2011, Indonesia considered the possibility of joining BRICS. In 2022 the country formally submitted an application, but Indonesian president Joko Widodo decided not to join the group and to withdraw the application because it was considered a rushed decision. Widodo said that in future he would probably reapply, but Indonesia is out for now. Widodo never reapplied before he stepped down as president in 2024.[14] However, the consideration of Indonesia joining BRICS is said to be decided by President Prabowo Subianto according to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.[15] Indonesia has restarted the application process as announced by Foreign Minister Sugiono after the 16th BRICS summit.
In 2022, Argentina formally submitted an application for BRICS membership under Alberto Fernández's government. Argentina was invited to join at the subsequent 2023 summit, but the country declined the offer to join the bloc in the aftermath of Javier Milei's victory in that year's presidential election.[16]
Algeria had previously applied for membership in 2023,[17] but later rejected it in September 2024, making Algeria the second country after Argentina to decline and stop its application.[18]
Following the 2024 BRICS summit, Brazil blocked Venezuela's application to the bloc, largely due to the disputed 2024 Venezuelan elections and the ongoing Venezuelan crisis. Venezuela recalled its ambassador from Brazil in response.[19]