BRICS trade in numbers: What exports, imports and $226 billion deficit reveal as global leaders gather in New Delhi

BRICS Summit today: New Delhi is hosting the BRICS summit in the national capital from today.

India assumed the BRICS Chairship on January 1, 2026. The summit is being held under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are among the global leaders being hosted by PM Modi at the summit at Bharat Mandapam today.

BRICS is an informal bloc of major emerging economies that was originally established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining subsequently.

The bloc has since expanded to 11 members, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Together, BRICS members account for approximately 49.5% of the global population and around 40% of the global GDP.

The idea behind the informal bloc is to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, strengthen cooperation among member countries, and support a more balanced and representative global economic governance framework, particularly for emerging and developing economies.

How have India’s trade relationships with BRICS member countries been? LiveMint explain.

Among the key focus areas of BRICS over the years has been reducing global dependence on the US Dollar. Finance ministers and central bank governors met in August to discuss facilitating cross-border payments and strengthening national currencies.

Trade data cited by The Hindu recently showed that merchandise exports by BRICS countries accounted for about one-fourth of global exports in 2024.

As things stand, China remains the largest economy in the grouping, with its 2025 GDP estimated at about $19.63 trillion, making it the world's second-largest economy. India’s economy was valued at about $3.92 trillion, making it the seventh-largest economy, the report said.

Russia, Brazil and Indonesia

Russia, Brazil and Indonesia also contribute significant economic capacity, with 2025 GDP estimated at about $2.59 trillion, $2.28 trillion and $1.45 trillion, respectively. The combined economic scale gives BRICS a broad trading footprint across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

The BRICS nations have increased their exports over the years, with China touching $500 billion in 2024, the Hindu report said. Other members, such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Russia, and the UAE, also recorded exports between $80 and $180 billion.

Also, trade among BRICS countries has increased. As of 2024, all BRICS members except China received more than 30% of their imports from other members.

The expansion indicates that BRICS economies are becoming increasingly interconnected through trade, creating opportunities for closer cooperation in supply chains, investment and financial settlements.

Export dependence within the grouping has also increased, according to The Hindu. In the last decade, China, Russia, the UAE, Indonesia and Brazil have doubled and even quadrupled their exports to bloc members.

China has, however, shown less dependency on intra-BRICS exports due to its diversified export market, the Hindu report highlighted.

The report also highlighted the growing dependence of several members on fellow BRICS economies for imports. Iran depends on BRICS countries for more than 65% of its imports, while Ethiopia’s dependence is close to 45%.

Russia saw a rapid increase in its export dependency between 2020 and 2023 due to the Ukraine war. It saw decrease in its exports in 2024. In the 2024 summit held under Russia's chairmanship, BRICS argued against US dollar dominance. US sanctions hit Russia badly in 2022.

While the US is the largest economy in the world, the BRICS grouping does not fall far behind as China, India and Russia are in the top 10 in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

India's trade deficit of $226.1 billion

India's total goods trade with BRICS more than doubled from $203.1 billion in FY21 to $417.5 billion in FY26, news agency PTI said citing numbers from a New-Delhi based economic think tank.

India's exports to BRICS increased 48.8 per cent, from $64.3 billion to $95.7 billion. On the other hand, imports rose 131.8 per cent, from $138.8 billion to $321.8 billion.

"As a result, India's trade deficit with BRICS more than tripled from $74.5 billion to $226.1 billion," according to economic think tank the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) quoted by PTI.

The BRICS share in India's exports fell marginally from 22 per cent to 21.7 per cent. In contrast, imports increased 131.8 per cent. This pushed the BRICS share in India's imports sharply higher, from 35.2 per cent to 41.5 per cent, it said.

Largest export market

The UAE was India's largest export market within BRICS in FY26, receiving goods worth $37.4 billion, up 124 per cent from FY21.

China ranked second at $19.5 billion. Other major destinations were Saudi Arabia at $10.3 billion, Brazil and South Africa at $7 billion each, and Russia and Indonesia at $4.5 billion.

India's exports declined to Indonesia, Iran and Ethiopia. China remained India's largest supplier within BRICS. Imports from China doubled from $65.2 billion to $131.6 billion and accounted for about 41% of India's BRICS imports.

The UAE supplied goods worth $63.9 billion. Imports from Russia increased more than tenfold, from $5.5 billion to $55.4 billion, mainly because of higher energy purchases, GTRI said.

China, the UAE and Russia together accounted for almost 84 per cent of India's imports from BRICS.

Intra-BRICS trade

The GTRI report said that BRICS countries export about $1.1 trillion to one another, equal to 18.8 per cent of their combined global exports. They imported goods worth $1.4 trillion from fellow BRICS members, representing 29.5 per cent of their global imports.

"Thus, BRICS is more important to its members as a source of imports than as an export market. Intra-BRICS exports account for only 4.1 per cent of world exports, while intra-BRICS imports represent 5.4 per cent of world imports," it said.

In 2025, BRICS countries exported goods worth $5.67 trillion, accounting for 21.6 per cent of world exports of $26.3 trillion. Their imports totalled $4.58 trillion, or 17.3 per cent of world imports of $26.5 trillion. The bloc therefore recorded an overall merchandise trade surplus of about $1.09 trillion.

China dominates intra-BRICS trade, exporting $550.8 billion to other members and importing $464.9 billion from them.

GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava told news agency PTI that for India, the priority should be to correct the growing imbalance. BRICS is becoming an increasingly important source of machinery, industrial inputs, energy and commodities. However, it is not absorbing a comparable share of Indian exports, he said.

"India should seek better market access in China, Russia and Indonesia, address non-tariff barriers, promote higher-value exports and reduce excessive dependence on a few BRICS suppliers. Without stronger export growth, deeper intra-BRICS trade could further widen India's already large trade deficit," he added.

Putin pitches BRICS investment platform

On Friday addressing a gathering of BRICS business leaders ahead of today's summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin pitched a new investment platform to fund projects in trade, infrastructure, logistics and technology across BRICS.

Putin, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday, also stressed that the grouping's expanding economic cooperation was "not against anyone" and aimed instead at advancing the national interests of its members.

"We are not against anyone," Putin said. "We are in favour of our interests," while asserting that BRICS remained open to cooperation with the wider world.

Putin said the proposed digital investment platform built on the framework of the New Development Bank (NDB) would seek to mobilise private-sector funding and make BRICS economies more competitive. He expressed hope that other BRICS members would support the initiative.

US-Iran War shadow

The BRICS Summit comes at a challenging moment for India, as the grouping navigates the fallout from the US-Iran war and the wider crisis in the Middle East.

For New Delhi, the immediate challenge will be to strike a delicate diplomatic balance. The expanded BRICS includes Iran as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, countries with differing interests and positions on the regional conflict.

At the same time, India maintains important strategic and economic relationships with the United States and the Gulf countries.

Clearly, India faces a significant diplomatic test in forging consensus at the upcoming BRICS Summit, according to Harsh V Pant, Vice President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

“Fragmentation is growing, and great powers are at loggerheads with each other. Wars are raging across the world from the Middle East to Europe, with no end in sight,” Pant told news agency ANI.

The US-Iran war has implications for energy security, shipping and global oil markets, with the Strait of Hormuz emerging as a major vulnerability. Any prolonged disruption could have a significant impact on energy-importing economies such as India, according to experts.

For India, West Asia is particularly important because of its energy supplies, trade links and large diaspora presence in the region. A prolonged disruption could push up India's import bill, increase inflationary pressures and complicate the country's economic outlook, they said.

What remains to be seen is if BRICS can challenge the dominance of the US Dollar in the coming days.

(With PTI inputs)