Statsguru: Rising relevance of Brics in global merchandise export market

Starting Tuesday, leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa will meet in Johannesburg for the 15th Brics summit. Among other things, they are expected to discuss the prospects of 40 nations who have shown interest in joining the league of major emerging economies.

Evidence of their rising clout is the growing share in the global merchandise export market. It was at 20 per cent in 2022 compared to 5 per cent in 1992. They also account for a quarter of the world’s economy (charts 1, 2).


 

China plays a large role in both these achi­e­vements. It alone accounted for 14.4 per cent of global merchandise exports in 2022. Russia was second with 2.1 per cent, while India was third with 1.8 per cent. India was second in ter­ms of gross domestic product (GDP) with 3.4 per cent, while China had a 17.9 per cent share.
 

More people are investing in setting up factories and manufacturing facilities in these countries. The share of global foreign direct investment in such ventures crossed 22 per cent in 2021, compared to less than 10 per cent in the early 1990s (chart 3).

Emissions show a parallel rise. These countries accounted for 45.4 per cent of the global carbon dioxide emissions in 2021. It was 26.1 per cent in 1992. Among the nations, China was the largest contributor at 30.9 per cent in 2021, followed by India (7.3 per cent), Russia (4.7 per cent), Brazil (1.3 per cent), and South Africa (1.2 per cent) (chart 4).

India was the second-youngest with a median age in 2021 of 28 years compared to 33 years in Brazil, 39 years in Russia, 38 years in China, and 27 years in South Africa (chart 5).

Closer economic ties with each other are also on the summit agenda. Its peers in Brics accounted for 17 per cent of India’s trade as of 2022-23. It was 8 per cent in 2002-03. This has largely been fuelled by imports. Their share in India’s exports was less than 10 per cent as of 2022-23. China remains the biggest trading partner overall among Brics with a 9.8 per cent share in India’s trade (chart 6).