BRICS is a group of world economies that originally formed to give developing nations a stronger voice in global politics and trade. It started as a small group of five nations initially.
But in 2024 four new countries, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, joined the BRICS countries list.
Indonesia became a full member in January 2025 and brought the total count to 11 full member countries under BRICS. The group has also added 10 Partner Countries to help build closer ties across trade, energy, and security.
And in 2026 India taking over the BRICS Chairmanship and hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The bloc now represents nearly half of the world's population and a big portion of global trade.
Let’s read more about the complete history of BRICS countries and partner nations in detail to not miss out on this current affair ahead of 2026 summit.
What is BRICS and How did It Start?
The idea behind BRICS began in the mid-2000s, when major emerging economies decided to work together. The main idea behind was balancing out the political and economic influence of Western or to say first world countries on developing nations.
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2006: Foreign ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, and China met for the first time to formalise the group as BRIC.
2009: The leaders held their first official BRIC summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
2010 to 2011: South Africa was invited to join, changing the name to BRICS.
The main goal of BRICS is to encourage cooperation among member states in areas like trade, technology, agriculture, and finance. At the same time their should be encouragement for fair representation in global organisations like the United Nations and the World Bank.
Complete List of BRICS Countries and Partner Members in 2026
BRICS currently consists of 11 Full Member Nations and 10 Official Partner Countries.
Image generated via AI
11 BRICS Members and Joining Year
|
S.No.
|
BRICS Countries
|
Year Joined
|
Capital
|
Region
|
|
1
|
Brazil
|
2006 (Founding)
|
Brasília
|
South America
|
|
2
|
Russia
|
2006 (Founding)
|
Moscow
|
Europe/Asia
|
|
3
|
India
|
2006 (Founding)
|
New Delhi
|
South Asia
|
|
4
|
China
|
2006 (Founding)
|
Beijing
|
East Asia
|
|
5
|
South Africa
|
2010 (Joined 2011)
|
Pretoria
|
Africa
|
|
6
|
Egypt
|
2024
|
Cairo
|
North Africa
|
|
7
|
Ethiopia
|
2024
|
Addis Ababa
|
East Africa
|
|
8
|
Iran
|
2024
|
Tehran
|
Middle East
|
|
9
|
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
|
2024
|
Abu Dhabi
|
Middle East
|
|
10
|
Saudi Arabia
|
2024 (Confirmation pending)
|
Riyadh
|
Middle East
|
|
11
|
Indonesia
|
2025
|
Jakarta
|
Southeast Asia
|
10 BRICS Partner Countries
In addition to full BRICS members 10 countries joined in 2025 as official partners to work together on trade and economic projects:
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Belarus
-
Bolivia
-
Cuba
-
Kazakhstan
-
Malaysia
-
Nigeria
-
Thailand
-
Uganda
-
Uzbekistan
-
Vietnam
List of BRICS Summits from 2009 to 2026
The hosting duties for the annual summit rotate among the member countries each year. Here is the full timeline of every summit held so far:
|
Year
|
BRICS Summit
|
Host Country
|
Host City
|
Leader or Chair
|
|
2009
|
1st Summit
|
Russia
|
Yekaterinburg
|
Dmitry Medvedev
|
|
2010
|
2nd Summit
|
Brazil
|
Brasília
|
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
|
|
2011
|
3rd Summit
|
China
|
Sanya
|
Hu Jintao
|
|
2012
|
4th Summit
|
India
|
New Delhi
|
Manmohan Singh
|
|
2013
|
5th Summit
|
South Africa
|
Durban
|
Jacob Zuma
|
|
2014
|
6th Summit
|
Brazil
|
Fortaleza
|
Dilma Rousseff
|
|
2015
|
7th Summit
|
Russia
|
Ufa
|
Vladimir Putin
|
|
2016
|
8th Summit
|
India
|
Benaulim (Goa)
|
Narendra Modi
|
|
2017
|
9th Summit
|
China
|
Xiamen
|
Xi Jinping
|
|
2018
|
10th Summit
|
South Africa
|
Johannesburg
|
Cyril Ramaphosa
|
|
2019
|
11th Summit
|
Brazil
|
Brasília
|
Jair Bolsonaro
|
|
2020
|
12th Summit
|
Russia
|
Saint Petersburg (Online)
|
Vladimir Putin
|
|
2021
|
13th Summit
|
India
|
New Delhi (Online)
|
Narendra Modi
|
|
2022
|
14th Summit
|
China
|
Beijing (Online)
|
Xi Jinping
|
|
2023
|
15th Summit
|
South Africa
|
Johannesburg
|
Cyril Ramaphosa
|
|
2024
|
16th Summit
|
Russia
|
Kazan
|
Vladimir Putin
|
|
2025
|
17th Summit
|
Brazil
|
Rio de Janeiro and Brasília
|
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
|
|
2026
|
18th Summit
|
India
|
New Delhi
(Bharat Mandapam)
|
Narendra Modi
|
Which Country will Held 18th BRICS Summit in 2026?
India is serving as the host nation for BRICS in 2026. Here are the key facts about this year's summit:
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Host City and Venue: The summit takes place at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Main Focus Areas: The meeting focuses on building stronger supply chains, expanding trade in local currencies, improving digital infrastructure, and discussing fair rules for global technology and Artificial Intelligence.
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Key Attendees: World Leaders from all member nations including Narendra Modi (India), Xi Jinping (China), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), Prabowo Subianto (Indonesia), and Masoud Pezeshkian (Iran) are joining the meeting alongside representatives from partner countries and global bodies like the United Nations.
Why is BRICS Important?
BRICS is consistently growing stronger. Its decisions now affect world trade and diplomacy in three big ways:
1. Economic Influence
Member nations control a large market share of global oil, agriculture, and manufacturing. The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by BRICS, funds major infrastructure projects in developing nations.
Reforming Global Institutions
BRICS countries continuously push for updates to global bodies like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Security Council, asking for a bigger voice for developing countries.
Internal Dynamics
With more countries joining, members must work closely together to handle political differences and build common rules that benefit every country involved.