BRICS’ GDP lead over G7 will only grow – Putin

The BRICS nations have already become the main drivers of international economic growth, but their potential will only increase further through cooperation within the bloc, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

The bloc’s share of global GDP already exceeds that of the Group of Seven (G7) leading Western economies, and it continues to expand, Putin said in his speech at a plenary session of the BRICS Business Forum in Moscow on Friday.

BRICS now accounts for 37.4% of the global GDP, while the G7 only accounts for 29.3%, Putin stressed. “And this gap is widening. And it will keep widening even further. It is inevitable,” he added.

“The BRICS countries are in fact the drivers of the global economic growth. It is within BRICS that the main increase in global GDP will be generated in the foreseeable future,” Putin said.

The bloc "accounts for about a quarter of the world’s exports of goods,” and the bloc’s members dominate many key markets, including energy, metals and food,” the Russian leader said.  

Various “development platforms” are currently being created within the bloc, including “communications channels, technological and educational standards, financial systems, payment instruments and, of course, mechanisms for sustainable long-term investment,” he noted.

They are intended to make sure that “the economic growth of BRICS members in the future will depend less and less on external influence or interference,” Putin said.

This is the “economic sovereignty” that the bloc is aiming to achieve, becoming “a partnership of self-sufficient economies, which greatly increases their potential, opens up new opportunities,” he added.

“The work of BRICS is not directed against anyone. It is solely aimed at one common task, which is the sustainable development and prosperity of our countries and people,” Putin said.

As the current chair of BRICS, Russia is hosting the bloc’s annual summit in the city of Kazan from October 22 to 24. On January 1, 2024, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE officially became new BRICS members, joining Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.