What is "brics"

n. 1 (label en politics economics) Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa 2 (label en economics) The fast-growing economies of the above countries

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as " BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the controversial addition of South Africa in 2010. The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G-20 members. However, BRICS countries have significantly slowed down with South Africa only growing 1% in 2015 similar to the 1.6% a year from 1994 to 2009, Brazil in its worst recession since the 1930s by some measures, Russia in a recession as oil prices tailspin and sanctions weigh, and China's slowdown is set to be a drag on global growth and is reported to be the slowest in the last 25 years. Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits. Russia hosted the group's seventh summit in July 2015. India is going to host the BRICS conference in Goa in 2016. The term does not include countries such as South Korea, Mexico and Turkey for which other acronyms and group associations were later created.

As of 2015, the five BRICS countries represent over 3 billion people, or 42% of the world population; all five members are in the top 25 of the world by population, and four are in the top 10. The five nations have a combined nominal GDP of US$16.039 trillion, equivalent to approximately 20% of the gross world product, and an estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves. The BRICS have received both praise and criticism from numerous commentators. Bilateral relations among BRICS nations have mainly been conducted on the basis of non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit.