Member states of BRICS

Map of BRICS members and prospective members

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.

Member states

[edit]
Flag Country
Capital
Area
(km2)
Population
(2016)
Density
(/km2)
GDP per cap.
(PPP)
[1]
HDI[2] Currency
Official languages Leaders Accession
Brazil
Federative Republic of Brazil
Brasília 8,515,767 203,062,512 25 18,686 0.754 Brazilian real (R$)
(BRL)
Portuguese
also see Languages of Brazil
Head of State: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 2009-06-16 (Informally, September 2006)
Russia
Russian Federation
Moscow 17,075,400 146,519,759 8.3 24,449 0.822 Russian rouble (₽)
(RUB)
Russian
also see Languages of Russia
Head of State: Vladimir Putin
Head of Government: Mikhail Mishustin
India
Republic of India
New Delhi 3,287,240 1,284,480,000 364.4 10,484 0.640 Indian rupee ()
(INR)
Hindi (Devanagari script)
English
Also see Languages of India
Head of State: Droupadi Murmu
Head of Government: Narendra Modi
China
People's Republic of China
Beijing 9,640,011[a] 1,374,820,000 139.6 21,224 0.727 Renminbi (Chinese yuan, ¥)
(CNY)
Standard Chinese[3]
written in simplified characters[3]
see also languages of China
Head of State: Xi Jinping
Head of Government: Li Qiang
South Africa
Republic of South Africa
Pretoria (executive)
Cape Town (legislative)
Bloemfontein (judicial)
1,221,037 58,048,332 42.4 16,090 0.713 South African rand (R)
(ZAR)
12 languages Head of State: Cyril Ramaphosa 2010-12-24[4][5][6][7]
Egypt
Arab Republic of Egypt
Cairo 1,010,408 105,231,000 103.56 16,980 0.731 Egyptian pound (LE)
(EGP)
Arabic Head of State: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Head of Government: Moustafa Madbouly
2024-01-01
Ethiopia
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa 1,104,300 105,163,988 92.7 3,724 0.498 Ethiopian birr (BR)
(ETB)
Afar
Amharic
Oromo
Somali
Tigrinya
Head of State: Taye Atske Selassie
Head of Government: Abiy Ahmed
Iran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran 1,648,195 79,011,700 48.0 17,443 0.766 Iranian rial (Rl)
(IRR)
Persian Head of State: Ali Khamenei
Head of Government: Masoud Pezeshkian
United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi 83,600 4,106,427 121
[Figures
don't
balance
]
78,255 0.911 UAE dirham (AED) Arabic Head of State: Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Head of Government: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Partner states

[edit]

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 18,246 0.798 Belarusian ruble (Rbl)
(BYR)
Belarusian
Russian
Head of State: Alexander Lukashenko
Head of Government: Roman Golovchenko
2023
Bolivia
Plurinational State of Bolivia
Sucre 1,098,581 12,186,079 10.4 9,933 0.692 Boliviano
(BOB)
Spanish
Quechua
Aymara
Guarani
Other Indigenous languages
Head of State and Government: Luis Arce
Cuba
Republic of Cuba
Havana 109,884 10,985,974 101.8 22,237 0.764 Cuban peso
(CUP)
Spanish Head of State: Miguel Díaz-Canel
Head of Government: Manuel Marrero Cruz
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: Prabowo Subianto 2024[8]
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 330,803 34,564,803 101 39,030 0.807 Malaysian ringgit (MYR) Malay Head of State: Ibrahim Iskandar
Head of Government: Anwar Ibrahim
2024
Nigeria
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Abuja 923,769 220,159,000 237 8,005 0.510 Nigerian naira (NGN) English Head of State and Government: Muhammadu Buhari 2023
Thailand
Kingdom of Thailand
Bangkok 513,120 65,975,198 132.1 23,401 0.803 Thai baht (THB) Thai Head of State: Vajiralongkorn
Head of Government: Paetongtarn Shinawatra
2024
Turkey
Republic of Turkey
Ankara 783,562 90,564,000 115 37,978 0.827 Turkish lira (TRY) Turkish Head of State and Government: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Vietnam
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Hanoi 331,344.82 100,300,000 298 15,470 0.726 Vietnamese đồng (VND) Vietnamese Head of State: Lương Cường
Head of Government: Phạm Minh Chính

Countries that have applied for membership

[edit]

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
Baku 86,600 9,976,248 117 19,328 0.760 Azerbaijani manat (AZN) Azerbaijani Head of State: Ilham Aliyev
Head of Government: Ali Asadov
2024
Bangladesh
People's Republic of Bangladesh
Dhaka 148,460 169,828,911 1,305 8,673 0.661 Bangladeshi taka (BDT) Bengali Head of State and Government: Mohammed Shahabuddin 2023
Myanmar
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Naypyidaw 676,578 53,662,135 79.22 7,682 0.582 Burmese kyat (MMK) Burmese Head of State: Min Aung Hlaing
Head of Government: Min Aung Hlaing
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: Asif Ali Zardari
Head of Government: Shehbaz Sharif
2024[11]
Senegal
Republic of Senegal
Dakar 196,722 18,847,519 90 4,324 0.517 West African CFA franc (XOF) French

Wolof Pulaar

Head of State: Bassirou Diomaye Faye
Head of Government: Ousmane Sonko
2023[12]
Sri Lanka
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Kotte 65,610.2 22,037,000 337.7 14,234 0.780 Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) Sinhala
Tamil
Head of State: Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Head of Government: Harini Amarasuriya
2024[13]
Syria
Syrian Arab Republic
Damascus 185,180 23,865,423 118.33 2,900 0.557 Syrian pound (SYP) Arabic Head of State: Bashar al-Assad 2024
Venezuela
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Caracas 916,445 30,518,260 33.74 3,474 0.699 Venezuelan bolívar (VED) Spanish; Piapoco; Baniwa
Locono; Other indigenous languages
Head of State and Government:
Nicolás Maduro
2024[b]

Previous applicants

[edit]

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.[8]

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]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The actual area under PRC control is 9,596,960.
  2. ^ Application has been blocked by Brazil because of the disputed 2024 Venezuelan elections in addition to the ongoing Venezuelan crisis.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ at purchasing power parity, per capita, in international dollars (rounded IMF 2012)
  2. ^ at Human Development Index (New 2013 Estimates for 2012)
  3. ^ a b "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No.37)". Archived from the original on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  4. ^ "New era as South Africa joins BRICS" Archived 18 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine . SouthAfrica.info. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  5. ^ "S. Africa Joins; BRIC Now BRICS, 13 de abril de 2011". Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  6. ^ "BRICS Gain Global Influence as South Africa Joins, Medvedev Says". Bloomberg.com. 2011-04-12. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  7. ^ Fletcher, Owen (2011-04-13). "China Seeks Heft for 'BRICS'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  8. ^ a b Ihsan, Nabil (October 25, 2024). "RI nyatakan keinginan gabung ke BRICS, wujudkan diplomasi bebas aktif". Antara News (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  9. ^ Saudi Arabia has not yet joined BRICs - minister
  10. ^ "MSN". MSN.
  11. ^ Hussain, Abid. "Pakistan seeks BRICS membership, despite India roadblock". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  12. ^ Ndiaye, Juliette (2023-08-21). "EMERGING COUNTRIES – Senegal wants to integrate the Brics". Ze-AfricaNews. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  13. ^ "Sri Lanka set to officially apply for BRICS membership".
  14. ^ "Why Indonesia chose autonomy over BRICS membership". East Asia Forum. 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  15. ^ Rahmawati, Dwi. "Menlu Sebut Keputusan Indonesia Gabung BRICS Ada di Tangan Prabowo". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  16. ^ "El gobierno de Javier Milei oficializó que la Argentina no entrará a los Brics". LA NACIÓN (in Spanish). 2023-12-29. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  17. ^ "Algeria president: 'Country applied to join BRICS, offered $1.5bn'". July 2023.
  18. ^ "Algeria no longer express interest in joining according to Algerian news agency". Aps.
  19. ^ "Angered over BRICS veto, Venezuela recalls ambassador to Brazil". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-30.