Member states of BRICS

As of June 2025:

  member states

  partner states

  candidate states

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. In January 2025, Indonesia joined the organization. Many other countries are partner states or have applied to join.

Member states

Flag	Country	Capital	Area (km2)	Population (2025)	Density (/km2)	GDP per cap. (PPP) [1]	HDI [2]	Currency	Official languages	Accession
	Brazil Federative Republic of Brazil	Brasília	8,515,767	213,583,750	23.8	23,239	0.786	Brazilian real (R$) (BRL)	Portuguese also see Languages of Brazil	16 June 2009 (Informally, September 2006)
	Russia Russian Federation	Moscow	17,075,400	146,028,325	8.4	49,383	0.832	Russian rouble (₽) (RUB)	Russian also see Languages of Russia
	India Republic of India	New Delhi	3,287,240	1,417,492,000	430.7	12,132	0.685	Indian rupee (₹) (INR)	Hindi (Devanagari script) English Also see Languages of India
	China People's Republic of China	Beijing	9,640,011 [a]	1,408,280,000	147	28,978	0.797	Renminbi (Chinese yuan, ¥) (CNY)	Standard Chinese [3] written in simplified characters [3] see also languages of China
	South Africa Republic of South Africa	Pretoria (executive) Cape Town (legislative) Bloemfontein (judicial)	1,221,037	63,100,945	50.8	15,989	0.741	South African rand (R) (ZAR)	12 languages	24 December 2010 [4] [5] [6] [7]
	Egypt Arab Republic of Egypt	Cairo	1,010,408	107,271,260	108.32	21,668	0.754	Egyptian pound (LE) (EGP)	Arabic	1 January 2024
	Ethiopia Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	1,104,300	109,499,000	92.7	4,398	0.497	Ethiopian birr (Br) (ETB)	Afar Amharic Oromo Somali Tigrinya
	Iran Islamic Republic of Iran	Tehran	1,648,195	92,417,681	52	19,957	0.799	Iranian rial (Rl) (IRR)	Persian
	United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	83,600	11,027,129	132 [ Figures don't balance ]	81,676	0.940	UAE dirham (Dh) (AED)	Arabic
	Indonesia Republic of Indonesia	Jakarta	1,904,569	284,438,782	143	17,612	0.728	Indonesian rupiah (Rp) (IDR)	Indonesian	6 January 2025

Partner states

Partner states are a new category for integration of prospective members, introduced in 2024 at the 16th BRICS summit in Kazan, the Russian Federation. These countries are observer states that are not yet officially part of the BRICS bloc, yet would get support from BRICS members. These observer states prove themselves as partners before further integrating as a member, similar to the accession process of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. ^[8] 13 states were invited to be formal partners; the following 10 states then ensured their partnership status by January 2025, while Indonesia acceded into the core membership.

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	0.824	Belarusian ruble (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	0.733	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	0.762	Cuban peso (CUP)	Spanish	Supreme Leader and Head of State: Miguel Díaz-Canel Head of Government: Manuel Marrero Cruz
	Kazakhstan Republic of Kazakhstan	Astana	2,724,900	20,075,271	7	34,534	0.837	Tenge (KZT)	Kazakh Russian	Head of State: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Head of Government: Oljas Bektenov	2024 [9]
	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	330,803	34,564,803	101	39,030	0.819	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	0.560	Nigerian naira (NGN)	English	Head of State and Government: Bola Ahmed Tinubu
	Thailand Kingdom of Thailand	Bangkok	513,120	65,975,198	132.1	23,401	0.798	Thai baht (THB)	Thai	Head of State: Vajiralongkorn Head of Government: Paetongtarn Shinawatra
	Uganda Republic of Uganda	Kampala	241,038	49,283,041	157.1	3,642	0.582	Ugandan shilling (UGX)	English and Swahili	Head of State: Yoweri Museveni Head of government: Robinah Nabbanja
	Uzbekistan Republic of Uzbekistan	Tashkent	447,400	37,535,605	80.2	11,596	0.740	Uzbek sum (UZS)	Uzbek	Head of state: Shavkat Mirziyoyev Head of government: Abdulla Aripov
	Vietnam Socialist Republic of Vietnam	Hanoi	331,344.82	100,300,000	298	15,470	0.766	Vietnamese đồng (VND)	Vietnamese	Supreme Leader: Tô Lâm Head of State: Lương Cường Head of Government: Phạm Minh Chính [b]

Two more countries had been invited to join the BRICS bloc as observer partner states like the ones listed above but have not yet confirmed that status as of mid-January 2025. ^[8]

Flag	Country	Capital	Area (km2)	Population (2016)	Density (/km2)	GDP per cap. (PPP)	HDI	Currency	Official languages	Leaders	Application submitted
	Algeria People's Democratic Republic of Algeria	Algiers	2,381,741	46,700,000	19	16,483	0.763	Algerian dinar (DZD)	Arabic	Head of State: Abdelmadjid Tebboune Head of Government: Nadir Larbaoui
	Turkey Republic of Türkiye	Ankara	783,562	85,372,377	111	40,283	0.853	Turkish lira (TRY)	Turkish	Head of State and Government: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Countries that have applied for membership

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]

Previous applicants

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. ^[11] However, the consideration of Indonesia joining BRICS is said to be decided by President Prabowo Subianto according to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. ^[12] Indonesia has restarted the application process as announced by Foreign Minister Sugiono after the 16th BRICS summit. ^[13] Indonesia was originally invited to be an observer partner state, but instead opted for full membership, which went into effect in January 2025. ^[14]

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. ^[15]

Saudi Arabia was also invited to join at the 2023 summit, with full membership was scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2024. ^{[16] [17] [18]} However, Saudi Arabia did not join BRICS at the start of 2024 as had been planned, and it announced in mid-January that it was still considering the matter. ^[19] As of April 2024, the matter is still under consideration. ^[20]

Algeria had previously applied for membership in 2023, ^[21] but later rejected it in September 2024, making Algeria the second country after Argentina to decline and stop its application. ^[22]

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. ^[23]

Pakistan applied for membership in 2023, but it has been opposed by India due to strained diplomatic relations. ^[24] Certain experts have additionally stated that a key factor for refusal of membership is due to Pakistan's economic instability. ^[25]

Notes

1. The actual area under PRC control is 9,596,960.^{[ citation needed ]}
2. The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam is the supreme leader in a one-party communist state. The general secretary is also the secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, being the de facto Commander-in-Chief of the People's Army of Vietnam.

See also

• Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
• Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union

References

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2. "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
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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.
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8. Norton, Ben (26 October 2024). "BRICS grows, inviting 13 new 'partner countries' at historic summit in Kazan, Russia". Geopolitical Economy. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
9. "Kazakhstan to Become a BRICS Partner on January 1, 2025". The Times Of Central Asia. 24 December 2024. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
10. "MSN". MSN .^{[ permanent dead link ]}
11. "Why Indonesia chose autonomy over BRICS membership". East Asia Forum. 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
12. Rahmawati, Dwi. "Menlu Sebut Keputusan Indonesia Gabung BRICS Ada di Tangan Prabowo". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-10-25.
13. Ihsan, Nabil (October 25, 2024). "RI nyatakan keinginan gabung ke BRICS, wujudkan diplomasi bebas aktif". Antara News (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-10-25.
14. "China congratulates Indonesia on becoming full member of BRICS". global.chinadaily.com. Global China Daily. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
15. "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.
16. Monteiro, Ana (2023-12-29). "BRICS to Grow as Saudi, Iran, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia Join Ranks". Bloomberg News . Archived from the original on 2023-12-31. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
17. Sharma, Shweta (24 August 2023). "Brics countries agree major expansion as 6 countries invited to join". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
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19. El Dahan, Maha; Zhdannikov, Dmitry (January 18, 2024). "Exclusive: Saudi Arabia still considering BRICS membership, sources say". Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
20. "Saudi MBS on BRICS leaders calling him to abandon U.S. dollar in oil transactions". Tactical Report. 26 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
21. "Algeria president: 'Country applied to join BRICS, offered $1.5bn'". Middle East Monitor. 22 July 2023.
22. "Adhésion aux Brics: l'Algérie tourne définitivement la page" (in French). Algeria Press Service. 28 September 2024.
23. "Angered over BRICS veto, Venezuela recalls ambassador to Brazil". Al Jazeera. 30 October 2024.
24. "Pakistan seeks BRICS membership, despite India roadblock".
25. "Why Did Pakistan Fail To Secure BRICS Membership At 2024 Summit? – OpEd".