The five current members of the BRICS group increased trade by 56% from 2017 to 2022, reaching some US$422 billion worth of turnover last year, according to Bloomberg.

BRICS currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, but will be joined by Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE this coming January. The decision to accept the new members was made during the group’s August summit in Johannesburg.

According to Bloomberg analysts, the expanded group will represent nearly half of global output by 2040, doubling the share of the Group of Seven (G7), which consists of the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan.

Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that BRICS already outpaced the G7 states in terms of the purchasing power parity (PPP) of their populations. Analysts project the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the expanded BRICS in terms of PPP to amount to about US$65 trillion. This would push the group’s share of global GDP up from the current 31.5% to 37%. In comparison, the share of the G7 is currently around 29.9%.

Originally formed largely for the purpose of highlighting investment opportunities among members, the group has become instrumental in building a new “multipolar” world order that will help give a stronger voice to the Global South. Other countries who have expressed interest in joining include Algeria, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkiye.

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