Every month, Mint’s Plain Facts gives you an update on key global data to help you thread together the biggest developments worth paying attention to. The accompanying analysis and charts explain how each story is creating ripples on the global stage, where it is headed in the coming weeks, and whether it could have an impact on India.
Bric by Bric
India is set to host the Brics summit on 12-13 September as the world grapples with heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The bloc, established as an alternative to the Group of Seven (G7) and a major voice for the Global South, has expanded significantly in the past 15 years.
What began with Brazil, Russia, India and China, added South Africa in 2010 and has since expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Indonesia, becoming Brics+. Over the years, Brics, or Brics+, has gained more share in the world GDP, while G7 has lost, reinforcing the need to have a bloc representing interests of these countries.
In 2010, the G7 accounted for 49.5% of global GDP, compared with 21.7% for the original Brics members. By 2026, the G7’s share had fallen to 43.8%, while Brics+ accounted for 29.1%. A larger grouping gives these emerging economies a platform to coordinate on trade, investment and finance and seek greater representation in global institutions.
Diverging prices
Inflation has started moderating across several major economies after rising earlier this year following the outbreak of the West Asia war in March.
China’s retail inflation fell to 0.5% in July from 1.2% in April and May, while South Korea’s eased to 2.8% from 3.2% in June. Brazil also saw inflation decline to 4.4% in July from 4.7% in May. India and Japan, however, have seen prices move higher. India’s inflation rose from 2.7% in January to 4.4% in July, while Japan’s increased from 1.5% to 1.9%.
The continuous rise in inflation in these two countries keep the room open for rate hikes. India paused earlier this month but monetary policy minutes showed hawkish tilt, signalling rate hikes in near future.
Japan is widely expected to hike rates again this month. The US presents a different policy dilemma. Even as inflation eased from its recent peak, it was much higher than the 2% aim at 3.4% in July, leaving the Federal Reserve to weigh in on the need to hike rates.
Entry squeeze
For young jobseekers in South Asia, finding a first job is becoming a bigger hurdle. Nearly eight in 10 unemployed youth in the region were first-time entrants to the labour market in 2025, the highest share among major regions, according to Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The share was 45.1% globally, 60.2% in sub-Saharan Africa and 45.8% in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. South Asia’s share has risen sharply over the past decade, from 64.8% in 2016 to 79.6% in 2025.
This means that a growing proportion of unemployed young people in the region are looking for work for the first time, rather than being between jobs. The trend is important as young people make up a large part of the region’s workforce and face the consequences of a delayed start to their careers.
Rising tertiary education may be pushing labour-market entry to later ages, but weak job creation can make the transition from education to employment harder. The broader youth unemployment picture also remains a concern, with several countries recording unusually high unemployment among those aged 20-24, the report said.
The Cook era
Tim Cook’s departure from Apple marks the end of one of the longest and most consequential leadership tenures in corporate America. He took over as chief executive on 24 August 2011, after serving as Apple’s chief operating officer for six years, succeeding co-founder Steve Jobs.
Cook then led Apple through a period of rapid expansion in smartphones, services and consumer technology. Apple’s market value grew alongside the technology boom, making its shares a major beneficiary of the sector’s rise.
A $100 investment in Apple on the day he took charge would have grown to $2,841 by 28 August 2026. Compare this with S&P 500, which would have delivered $655 on a similar investment in the same period. Hence, by benchmark standards, Apple has generated stellar value for its investors.
However, this looks less extraordinary when Apple's stock momentum is compared to some of its peers like Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft, which also delivered similar returns during the period. Among the top technology stocks, Nvidia and Tesla were outliers, with an initial $100 investment delivering 26 times and 7 times more than Apple, respectively.
AI meets jobs
The AI’s impact on jobs is likely to be more limited in developing economies as a larger share of their workforce is in jobs with little exposure to the technology.
Data from the World Bank’s World Development Report 2026 shows that 52.7% of employment in low- and middle-income countries is in occupations with the least AI exposure, compared with 24.1% in high-income economies. Jobs with the most exposure account for 23.1% of employment in low- and middle-income countries, against 29.5% in high-income economies. This lower exposure means fewer jobs are at risk of being displaced as AI adoption grows.
However, it also means fewer jobs are positioned to benefit from AI. Occupations with significant or most exposure account for 39% of employment in low- and middle-income countries, compared with 57% in high-income economies, the report said.
The difference could narrow as AI adoption increases, particularly in sectors such as information and communication technology (ICT) and business services. These sectors have been important sources of higher-skilled jobs in several developing economies and could therefore see both greater AI-driven productivity gains as well as displacement.