MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. With the 2024 accession of six new member states - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia - just announced, the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) will now boast 44.35% of global oil reserves, according to TASS’ calculations based on official data, thus overtaking the G7 nations (US, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan), which have only a 3.9% share.
In its expanded make-up, the BRICS group will now span 48.5 mln square kilometers, covering 36% of the Earth’s surface, a territory that is twice as large as the G7. Its total population will reach 3.6 bln people, or 45% of the global population, and more than four times as large as the G7’s population.
One-third of global economy
The GDP of the newly expanded BRICS in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) will reach $65 trln, or 37.3% of global GDP, versus the G7 at 29.9%.
BRICS will now account for almost half of global food production as the aggregate wheat harvest was 49% of the global total in the 11 BRICS countries in 2021, versus 19.1% in the G7, while the rice harvest equaled 55%, versus 2.6% for the G7.
BRICS will also now enjoy an advantage in terms of its share of global production of high-tech-critical metals as the expanded 11-nation group accounts for 79% of aluminum production (G7: 1.3%) and 77% of palladium output (G7: 6.9%).
Although the post-expansion BRICS will account for 38.3% of total global industrial production (G7: 30.5%), the G7 will still have an advantage in terms of its export share, which stands at 28.8%, versus the expanded BRICS’ 23.4% share.