The BRICS is an intergovernmental organization and concept representing a grouping of major emerging economies that coordinate economic and diplomatic policies. The term was initially coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in a 2001 research paper to highlight the growth potential of the then "BRIC" countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The first official summit of the four countries took place in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009. South Africa joined in 2010, changing the acronym to BRICS.
The group was formed to create a counterweight to the dominance of Western powers in global institutions and to advocate for a more balanced and representative world order. A key mechanism of the group is the New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral development bank established in 2014 at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil. The NDB mobilizes resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in member countries and other emerging markets. Unlike the World Bank, the NDB's founding members—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—each have one vote, and no country holds veto power. The group also established the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) in July 2014, a mutual financial support platform with a committed resource pool of up to $100 billion to help members with balance of payments difficulties.
The group has recently undergone significant expansion, which has changed its composition. At the 2023 Johannesburg Summit, invitations were extended to six new members. By January 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officially joined. Indonesia officially joined in early 2025. The expanded group, sometimes informally called BRICS+, now comprises eleven full members. The expansion represents a move to increase the group's global influence and its role as a political and diplomatic forum for the Global South.