BRICS Countries 2026: Full Member List, Summit and Guide

BRICS has grown from an economist’s acronym into the world’s most significant challenge to Western-led global governance. With 10 confirmed full members, 10 partner countries, and a combined GDP exceeding the G7’s by purchasing power, the bloc now represents approximately 45% of the world’s population and ~41% of global GDP (PPP). India holds the 2026 presidency, hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12–13 under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”

BRICS Member Status 2026 — Complete Table

Sources: BRICS Brazil Official FAQ; Wikipedia Member States; Reuters May 2025. GDP figures: April 2026 estimates via IMF / open-source data.

BRICS Members in 2026 — Profiles

Saudi Arabia was invited at the 2023 Johannesburg summit but has not formally accepted full membership. As of April 2026, Reuters confirmed that Riyadh is deliberately sitting on the fence to preserve its relationship with Washington. Despite appearing on the official BRICS Brazil presidency website as a member, two sources familiar with Saudi policy confirmed the status has not been formalized. Meanwhile, 10 countries hold official BRICS partner country status as of mid-2025.

From Acronym to Alliance: A Brief History

Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill coined “BRIC” in a 2001 research paper to describe the four emerging economies with the greatest growth potential. The group held its first formal summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009. South Africa joined in 2010, adding the “S.” The bloc remained at five members for 13 years.

The turning point came at the 2023 Johannesburg summit, where six new members were invited — Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina. Argentina later withdrew under President Milei. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE formally joined on January 1, 2024. Indonesia joined on January 6, 2025, bringing the confirmed full member count to 10.

The 2025 Rio Summit and Brazil’s Presidency

Brazil hosted the 17th BRICS Summit on July 6–7, 2025 in Rio de Janeiro — the bloc’s most consequential gathering yet. The Rio Declaration delivered on several Brazil-pushed initiatives: acknowledgment of the BRICS Grain Exchange, progress on the NDB’s 30% local-currency lending target, and a joint statement on multilateral reform. The summit also formally welcomed Indonesia as a full member and Indonesia officially confirmed its 10 partner nations.

Lula positioned the summit as a response to Trump’s tariff escalation, framing BRICS as a platform for “those who believe in multilateralism.” The New Development Bank approved nearly $7 billion for Brazil, with India leading in total financing. Xi Jinping’s absence was notably conspicuous, allowing Brazil’s and India’s diplomatic voices to dominate the summit narrative.

Key Issues in 2026

De-Dollarization: Rhetoric vs. Reality

De-dollarization is the most discussed BRICS initiative — and the most misunderstood. Despite headlines, the bloc has explicitly shelved the idea of a common BRICS currency. Instead, the focus is on alternative payment systems that reduce dependence on SWIFT and the US dollar for bilateral trade:

• mBridge: A multi-central bank digital currency platform developed with the BIS, allowing participating central banks to settle cross-border transactions in their own currencies. By November 2025, the platform had processed over 4,000 transactions worth $55.49 billion.
• BRICS Pay: A decentralized payment messaging system linking Russia’s SPFS, China’s CIPS, India’s UPI, and Brazil’s Pix. BRICS officially announced plans to launch BRICS Pay in 2026 as an independent alternative to SWIFT, with India’s RBI leading technical coordination and full deployment targeted for the September 2026 New Delhi summit.
• CBDC Interoperability: In January 2026, India’s Reserve Bank proposed linking BRICS members’ central bank digital currencies — the e-Rupee, China’s digital yuan, Brazil’s DREX, and the UAE dirham CBDC — as a core agenda item for the 2026 New Delhi summit. India and the UAE had already signed a bilateral CBDC linkage deal.
• “The Unit”: On October 31, 2025, BRICS quietly piloted a new digital trade settlement token backed 40% by gold and 60% by a basket of BRICS currencies. NDB President Dilma Rousseff confirmed “agreement in principle” to use the Unit as a settlement currency.

Nearly 95% of India-Russia trade is now settled in national currencies, per WION April 2026. Despite this progress, India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar stated in March 2025 that there is “no policy on our part to replace the dollar” — underlining the gap between BRICS’ de-dollarization rhetoric and the operational reality.

Trump Tariffs and BRICS Solidarity

In November 2024, Trump threatened 100% tariffs on BRICS nations if they moved to replace the dollar. By July 2025, he imposed a blanket 10% tariff on BRICS countries, later escalating to 50% on Brazil and India specifically. The Peterson Institute estimated that a 100% tariff would cause significant GDP losses for both sides. Ironically, these threats have strengthened the case for BRICS cooperation.

The New Development Bank (NDB) — April 2026 Update

The NDB, headquartered in Shanghai, has now approved $42.9 billion across 139 projects as of April 2026, per the NDB official website. Under President Dilma Rousseff — reappointed with strong backing from all member states and confirmed in the Rio de Janeiro Declaration July 2025 — the bank has set the following benchmarks:

• Raised $16.1 billion in bond issuances in 2024 alone, including renminbi and yen-denominated bonds
• $22.4 billion already disbursed from the $42.9 billion approved portfolio
• 11 member countries: the original BRICS-5 plus UAE, Bangladesh, Egypt, Algeria, Colombia, and Uzbekistan (Colombia and Uzbekistan admitted at the July 2025 Rio Board of Governors meeting)
• Ethiopia and Indonesia under review for NDB membership
• 30% local-currency lending target under the 2025–2030 strategy
• India leads in total NDB financing received ($6.9 billion, 18 projects); Brazil received $7 billion across 29 projects

The bank raised $16.1 billion in 2024 after emerging from a 15-month period when sanctions on Russia had effectively frozen its access to international capital markets, according to the official BRICS Brazil presidency report. The NDB holds a AAA credit rating from Japan’s JCR agency. For more on Brazil’s relationship with the NDB, see our Brazil economic outlook 2026.

The BRICS Grain Exchange

One of the most ambitious — and least-reported — initiatives under discussion is a BRICS Grain Exchange: a proposed digital marketplace that would allow direct grain transactions between producers and importers using alternative currency settlement, bypassing US-denominated commodity pricing. Russia’s Union of Grain Exporters first proposed the concept in December 2023; President Putin endorsed it in March 2024; and it was formally acknowledged in the September 2025 BRICS Joint Media Statement. BRICS countries collectively produce roughly 44% of global wheat. As of early 2026, the platform remains in planning with technical working groups established but no launch date confirmed.

Brazil’s record agricultural exports in 2025 — exceeding $165 billion — position it as a key driver of any such exchange. See our full analysis: Brazil’s record farm exports in 2025 redraw the global food map.

Internal Tensions: The Fault Lines within BRICS

BRICS is often portrayed as a unified bloc, but significant internal disagreements constrain what it can achieve. Three fault lines stand out.

China vs. India: Despite being founding members, China and India maintain a deeply competitive relationship. Border disputes — most prominently the 2020 Galwan Valley clash — cast a long shadow over diplomatic cooperation. India has consistently resisted binding BRICS agreements. On economic architecture, the two diverge sharply: China favors accelerating yuan internationalization and mBridge, while India prefers its own digital rupee as the intra-BRICS standard. India’s simultaneous participation in the Quad (with the US, Japan, and Australia) signals its determination not to be captured by the BRICS bloc’s China-Russia axis.

Russia’s sanctions complication: Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the freezing of over $300 billion in Russian foreign currency reserves by Western governments. The New Development Bank has had to distance itself from Russia for operational reasons — it cannot fund projects in Russia without jeopardizing its access to Western capital markets.

Egypt and Ethiopia rift: At the September 2024 BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, both Egypt and Ethiopia refused to sign the joint communiqué — exposing disagreements over UN Security Council reform and Middle East positioning. The inclusion of Iran also strains BRICS’ relationships with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, both of which maintain close ties with the United States.

BRICS vs. G7: Economic Comparison 2026

The gap between BRICS+ and the G7 continues to narrow in nominal GDP terms and has already been surpassed on a PPP basis — a shift with profound implications for global governance. According to IMF data, the BRICS group’s average GDP growth rate of 3.4% in 2025 is nearly three times the G7’s 1.2% average. India’s 6.2% growth rate in 2025 and 6.2% projected for 2026 make it the bloc’s fastest-growing member — and China’s 4.8% growth, even at a moderate pace, dwarfs most G7 economies. For the full picture of Brazil’s contribution to this shift, see our Brazil economic outlook 2026 guide.

BRICS Partner Countries: The Expanding Orbit

The 2024 Kazan Summit in Russia created the new “partner country” category. As of mid-2025, 10 partner countries are confirmed: Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Together with the 10 full members, this BRICS-20 grouping represents approximately 55–56% of world population and over 40% of global GDP by purchasing power.

The partner tier functions as a waiting room and a loyalty signal. Countries gain access to BRICS meetings, working groups, and — in some cases — NDB financing, without assuming full obligations. Turkey, a NATO member, has applied for full membership — a geopolitically explosive prospect; Turkey is actively seeking China’s help to secure its application ahead of the September 2026 summit. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is viewed as the natural next African full member. More than 40 countries have reportedly applied or expressed interest in joining BRICS in some form.

BRICS Academic and Think-Tank Cooperation

Beyond the headline-grabbing debates over currency and tariffs, BRICS has quietly built an extensive infrastructure for intellectual and institutional cooperation. The BRICS Think Tanks Council (BTTC) coordinates research institutions across all member states. Under India’s 2026 chairmanship, the First BRICS Youth Coordination Meeting was held in March 2026 in New Delhi. The BRICS University League, comprising over 100 universities, facilitates student and faculty exchanges. In the technology domain, BRICS is developing shared frameworks for artificial intelligence governance — a priority India has placed at the center of its 2026 presidency agenda.

BRICS and the US-China Rivalry: The Geopolitical Stakes

BRICS cannot be understood in isolation from the broader contest between the United States and China for global influence. Western analysts increasingly view BRICS expansion as an instrument of Chinese foreign policy — a vehicle for yuan internationalization, Belt and Road deepening, and the gradual erosion of US dollar hegemony. Yet the picture is more complicated. India’s participation actively limits Chinese dominance within the bloc. Brazil under Lula has sought to use BRICS as leverage in its own relationship with Washington, not as an instrument of Chinese power. The Stimson Center’s post-summit analysis concluded that US tariff pressure is accelerating BRICS cohesion, but that the bloc remains too internally divided to function as a unified geopolitical bloc in the way that NATO or the G7 does.

The 2026 India Summit: What to Expect

India’s presidency under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” — confirmed by CSEP analysis April 2026 — will focus on:

• September 12–13, 2026 in New Delhi: Dates confirmed per TASS / Indian government source, March 26, 2026
• BRICS Pay launch: Full operational deployment targeted for the summit; RBI leads coordination
• CBDC interoperability: RBI formal proposal to link e-Rupee, digital yuan, Brazil’s DREX, and UAE CBDC
• Digital public infrastructure: India’s UPI payment system as a model for BRICS
• AI governance: Proposing BRICS-wide ethical standards following the Rio Declaration on AI
• Climate finance: NDB green bond expansion and COP30 follow-up
• Healthcare cooperation: Post-pandemic pharmaceutical supply chains
• Possible new members: Turkey’s application under active consideration; 45+ countries have expressed interest

What to Watch in 2026

• September 12–13, 2026: 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi
• BRICS Pay: Planned launch — would be the most concrete de-dollarization step to date
• Saudi Arabia: Will Riyadh finally formalize membership? The Trump factor makes this unlikely in the near term
• Turkey: Could become the first NATO member in BRICS — a tectonic geopolitical shift
• NDB expansion: Ethiopia and Indonesia under review for membership; bank targets $50B portfolio by 2030
• BRICS Grain Exchange: Still in planning — would cover 44% of global wheat trade if realized
• mBridge: Any production deployment would be a milestone for de-dollarization

For context on Brazil’s economy and trade position within this shifting order, see our Brazil Economic Outlook 2026, Brazil’s record farm exports in 2025, Brazil oil exports to Asia, and Brazil’s iron ore export record and China exposure.

Frequently Asked Questions About BRICS 2026

Last updated: April 28, 2026. This guide will be updated as the September 2026 New Delhi summit approaches. For ongoing coverage, see our Brazil economic outlook 2026, Brazil agribusiness exports analysis, Brazil oil exports to Asia, and Brazil-China iron ore trade.