# BRICS vs G7: what is the difference?

Explainer · Published 2026-10-10 · Seventh in the reading path  
Canonical: https://whatisbrics.org/articles/brics-vs-g7/

BRICS and the G7 are both informal groupings of governments. Leaders meet and issue joint statements, and neither grouping is a treaty organization with a permanent secretariat. The G7 is seven advanced economies plus the European Union. BRICS, on the 2026 Indian chair’s own list, is eleven members spanning emerging economies, and it has a development bank the G7 does not.

What BRICS is, beyond that sentence, is a diplomatic grouping with summits and a small set of institutions. The definition stays on [What is BRICS?](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/what-is-brics/). This page only compares the two clubs.

## What is the difference between BRICS and the G7?

They are both leaders’ clubs that decide by consensus and publish political statements rather than binding votes. They differ in who sits at the table, how wide that table is, and what they have built: BRICS has the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, and the G7 has no bank or reserve pool of its own.

| Question | BRICS | G7 | Dated source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| When leaders first met | First BRIC leaders’ summit in Yekaterinburg in 2009. | Group of Six at Rambouillet in 1975. Canada joined in 1976. | Indian PIB note, 10 September 2026. Global Affairs Canada, “Canada and the G7,” accessed 10 October 2026. French presidency, “What is the G7?”, 13 December 2025. |
| Who is named | Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UAE. | Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The EU takes part and does not hold the rotating presidency. | PIB note, 10 September 2026. French presidency, 13 December 2025. Global Affairs Canada, accessed 10 October 2026. |
| Who chaired in 2026 | India. 18th summit, New Delhi, 12–13 September 2026. | France. Évian joint statements dated 16–17 June 2026. | [BRICS New Delhi Declaration](https://www.presidency.gov.za/sites/default/files/2026-09/New%20Delhi%20Declaration%202026.pdf), 12 September 2026. [Council of the EU](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/06/17/g7-leaders-joint-statements-evian-france-16-17-june-2026/), 17 June 2026. |
| Institutions of its own | New Development Bank and Contingent Reserve Arrangement, treated as existing instruments. The CRA passage refers to a CRA Treaty still being amended. | No legal existence and no permanent secretariat. Évian growth statement points to the IMF and multilateral development banks. | BRICS New Delhi Declaration, paragraphs 97 and 115, 12 September 2026. [“What is the G7?”](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2025/12/13/what-is-the-g7-1), 13 December 2025. [Évian growth statement](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2026/06/17/leaders-statement-for-a-more-balanced-durable-resilient-growth), 17 June 2026. |
| Sanctions language in 2026 | Condemns unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions, and opposes sanctions the UN Security Council has not authorized. | Leaders said they would strengthen sanctions on Russia’s war economy, including oil and gas. | BRICS New Delhi Declaration, paragraph 22, 12 September 2026. [Évian geopolitical statement](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2026/06/17/g7-leaders-statement-on-geopolitical-issues), 17 June 2026. |
| How a decision is made | “Collaboration and consensus.” No vote that binds a capital that withheld agreement. | “Operates by consensus” and has no treaty or permanent secretariat. | BRICS New Delhi Declaration, paragraph 2, 12 September 2026. [Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/g7/index.aspx?lang=eng), accessed 10 October 2026. |

## Who is in BRICS and who is in the G7?

Name the governments from the document that prints them. A partner country is not a member of either club.

### BRICS members in 2026

The Indian [Press Information Bureau note of 10 September 2026](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressNoteDetails.aspx?ModuleId=3&NoteId=159946&lang=1&reg=3) says BRICS “comprises 11 countries”: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. It says Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE became full members in January 2024, and that Indonesia joined as the eleventh full member in January 2025. The [Rio de Janeiro Declaration](https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/rio-de-janeiro-declaration-strengthening-global-south-cooperation-for-a-more-inclusive-and-sustainable-governance/) of 6–7 July 2025 had already welcomed Indonesia as a member.

**Saudi Arabia, and which document lists it.** Saudi Arabia is on the Indian chair’s 10 September 2026 list, which calls it a full member from January 2024. The BRICS New Delhi Declaration of 12 September 2026 does not reprint those eleven names. This page reports Saudi Arabia as a member because that chair’s note lists it. It does not treat the declaration as an instrument of accession. Earlier roster history stays on [membership evolution](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/membership-evolution/).

### G7 members and the EU’s role

The French presidency’s [“What is the G7?”](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2025/12/13/what-is-the-g7-1) page, posted 13 December 2025, names Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and says the European Union has been fully involved since 1977. [Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/g7/index.aspx?lang=eng), read on 10 October 2026, dates Canada’s joining to 1976 and says the EU does not take part in the rotation. The [president’s message](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2025/12/15/the-presidents-message) of 15 December 2025 said the G6 first met at Rambouillet in 1975 and that France would chair through 2026.

### Partner countries are not members

The Rio Declaration welcomed Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Uganda, and Uzbekistan as partner countries. A partner is not a member. Country files: [BRICS partners](https://bricsnations.org/partners/).

## Is BRICS bigger than the G7?

It depends on the measure — population, GDP at market exchange rates, or GDP at purchasing-power parity — and on the year and the data vintage. This page does not publish an IMF share for either club.

The Indian PIB note of 10 September 2026 says the eleven countries it lists “represent 49.5% of the global population, 40% of global GDP, and 26% of global trade.” Those are the chair’s figures, not an IMF World Economic Outlook edition. This desk did not recompute them from the IMF database or from World Bank population data.

## Does BRICS have a bank and does the G7?

BRICS created the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. The G7 has no bank of its own. The BRICS New Delhi Declaration (paragraph 115, 12 September 2026) calls the New Development Bank a crucial BRICS institution. Paragraph 97 treats the Contingent Reserve Arrangement as an existing safety net and refers to amendments to the CRA Treaty. Those instruments are not a founding treaty of the political club. Bank charter: [New Development Bank](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/new-development-bank/). Local-currency lending, without an invented trade share: [de-dollarization](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/de-dollarization/).

The French presidency (13 December 2025) says the G7 lacks legal existence and a permanent secretariat. The [Évian growth statement](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2026/06/17/leaders-statement-for-a-more-balanced-durable-resilient-growth) of 17 June 2026 calls for strengthening the IMF and multilateral development banks.

## Is BRICS an alternative to the G7 or an anti-Western bloc?

Members disagree among themselves and decide by consensus. Paragraph 28 of the BRICS New Delhi Declaration, on escalation in Middle East/West Asia, names no state and recalls “respective national positions.” Later paragraphs name Israel and Palestine on Gaza and the occupation, and Israel on the Lebanon ceasefire (paragraphs 30–35).

At Évian on 17 June 2026, G7 leaders said they would strengthen sanctions on Russia’s war economy, including oil and gas. Paragraph 22 of the BRICS New Delhi Declaration condemns unilateral economic sanctions the UN Security Council has not authorized. The war those sentences are about is [Russia’s war in Ukraine](https://armedconflicts.org/russia-ukraine-war.html).

India and Brazil also joined a [G7 foreign ministers’ session on 26–27 March 2026](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2026/03/30/foreign-ministers-meeting-of-g7-member-states-at-the-abbaye-des-vaux-de-cernay-26-and-27-march-2026), with Saudi Arabia. The declaration’s wording is for [the BRICS New Delhi Declaration note](https://bricspolicy.org/articles/new-delhi-declaration-2026/).

## How each group decides

Both use a rotating chair and consensus. Neither has a permanent secretariat with legal personality. BRICS process: [summits and institutions](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/summits-and-institutions/). The French presidency’s [2026 news list](https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/all-actualities) records a third sherpa meeting in Toulouse, posted 1 June 2026. Sherpas draft. They do not vote.

## What about the G20?

The French G7 explainer of 13 December 2025 described the G20 as nineteen heads of state and government, a list that included every G7 member and Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, plus the European Union, with the African Union in a permanent seat since 2024. It said they “currently represent 85% of global GDP, and account for two thirds of the world’s population.” That 85 percent is a G20 figure from that page, not a BRICS-versus-G7 share. The United States would hold the 2026 presidency.

The host page [g20.org/about-g20/](https://g20.org/about-g20/), retrieved 10 October 2026, prints a Miami 2026 state-participant list that includes Poland and does not print South Africa or the United Kingdom. Paragraph 116 of the BRICS New Delhi Declaration calls South Africa a founding full member and says membership changes should rest on consensus. This page reports both documents and does not decide the roster.

## Short answers

BRICS and the G7 are informal leaders’ clubs with no founding treaty for the club itself and no permanent secretariat. The G7 is the seven states named above, with the EU fully involved since 1977 and outside the rotation. BRICS, on the Indian note of 10 September 2026, is the eleven states named above. BRICS has the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. The G7 does not have a bank of its own.

Whether BRICS is bigger depends on the measure. The only aggregates on this page are the Indian chair’s 10 September 2026 figures — 49.5 percent of world population, 40 percent of global GDP, 26 percent of global trade — and they are not IMF numbers.

BRICS has a bank: the New Development Bank, which the 12 September 2026 declaration treats as a BRICS institution, alongside the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. The G7’s 17 June 2026 Évian statement points to the IMF and multilateral development banks instead.

Back to the path: [What is BRICS?](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/what-is-brics/).