BRICS
Economic
No member of BRICS signed a treaty to join it. Membership is recorded in a summit declaration and nowhere else, a chair passes between the members each year, and what the group agrees binds nobody. The one exception is a bank: the New Development Bank was established by treaty at Fortaleza on 15 July 2014 and is open to any member of the United Nations.
10 countries
Common questions
Questions about BRICS
Which countries are in BRICS?
Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, on the roster this catalogue applies. The first four met as leaders at Yekaterinburg on 16 June 2009 and the Sanya Declaration of 14 April 2011 added South Africa. Four of the six countries invited by the Johannesburg II Declaration of 23 August 2023 took the invitation up, and the Rio de Janeiro Declaration of 6 July 2025 welcomed Indonesia.
Is there a BRICS treaty?
Not for the group itself. There is no founding treaty, no charter and no instrument of accession, which is why membership has to be read out of summit declarations. Two treaties do exist underneath it, both signed at Fortaleza on 15 July 2014: the Agreement on the New Development Bank, and the Treaty for the Establishment of a BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement. Both bind their parties in the ordinary way.
Is Saudi Arabia a member of BRICS?
Published counts differ. Saudi Arabia was named in the Johannesburg II Declaration of 23 August 2023 among the countries invited to become full members from 1 January 2024, and it has taken part in meetings since. No later declaration records it as a member in the terms the Rio declaration used for Indonesia on 6 July 2025. The 10 countries filed under this group here do not include it, and the figures on the about page follow that roster.
Does joining BRICS mean joining the New Development Bank?
No, and the two lists have never matched. The bank is open to any member of the United Nations under Article 2 of its agreement. Bangladesh joined it on 16 September 2021 without ever being in the group, and Colombia and Uruguay have been admitted and are waiting to deposit their instruments. Ethiopia is in the group and is still carried by the bank as a prospective member.
What is a BRICS partner country?
A status short of membership, created by the Modalities of the BRICS Partner Country Category endorsed at Kazan on 23 October 2024. The Rio de Janeiro Declaration of 6 July 2025 named Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Uganda and Uzbekistan in the category. Partners take part in ministerial and technical meetings under the chair's programme, and this catalogue does not file them under the group.
Sources
- Building Better Global Economic BRICs, Global Economics Paper No. 66 · Goldman Sachs. The paper of 30 November 2001 in which the acronym was coined.
- Joint Statement of the BRIC Countries' Leaders · BRICS Information Centre, University of Toronto. Yekaterinburg, 16 June 2009, and the opening paragraphs on the G20.
- Sanya Declaration · BRICS Information Centre, University of Toronto. The meeting of 14 April 2011 that welcomed South Africa into the group.
- Agreement on the New Development Bank · Fortaleza, 15 July 2014. Subscribed capital of 50 billion United States dollars distributed equally, the headquarters in Shanghai and the regional office in Johannesburg.
- Treaty for the Establishment of a BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement · Fortaleza, 15 July 2014. The commitment of 100 billion United States dollars, its division between the parties, and the currency swap mechanism.
- Members · New Development Bank. Accession dates for the founders and later members, and the prospective members awaiting deposit of their instruments.
- Johannesburg II Declaration · BRICS Information Centre, University of Toronto. The invitation of 23 August 2023 to six countries, effective 1 January 2024, and the tasking on the partner country model.
- Kazan Declaration · BRICS Information Centre, University of Toronto. The endorsement of the Modalities of the BRICS Partner Country Category on 23 October 2024.
- Rio de Janeiro Declaration · BRICS Information Centre, University of Toronto. Indonesia welcomed as a member on 6 July 2025, and the partner countries named.