Over the weekend (September 12 and 13), India will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. BRICS is an informal grouping of 11 major emerging markets and developing countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.However, it started out as BRIC — referring to the four countries that initially came together, namely Brazil, Russia, India, and China — on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2006. In 2010, South Africa joined the grouping, and it was renamed BRICS.The idea was to provide a platform for the concerns of emerging economies of the time and counter the overwhelming domination of the industrialised and developed economies (read: the G7) in international institutions.This is the 20th year since the grouping began, but curiously enough, there is now a dragon in the room: China. Key economic data shows just how much China dwarfs the rest of the BRICS members.Typically, economic might is ascertained by the overall size of the economy as measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in US dollar terms. Similarly, economic prosperity is measured by GDP per capita, which gives a semblance of how rich an average citizen is in a country.Overall size of the economyEven in 2006, China was the largest economy among the five countries after which the grouping is named. Yet, as CHART 1 shows, when taken together — and for the ease of analysis, data for South Africa is taken since 2006 — China’s overall GDP was less than the GDP of the other four members. Chart 1.However, such was the pace of increase in China’s economic growth that by the time the inaugural summit meeting happened in 2009, China had overtaken the combined economic size of BRIS (BRICS minus China). Since then, the gap has continued to increase each year. As of 2026, China’s GDP alone is more than double that of the other four combined.Story continues below this adCHART 2 shows the country-specific GDP trajectory. Between 2006 and 2015, India did better than the others and overtook them to become the second-biggest economy within BRICS. However, China’s rise dwarfs all the rest.Explained | With India as host, here are better goals for BRICS than ‘confronting the West’ Chart 2.Indeed, as CHART 3 shows, since 2009, China has opened a similarly massive gap even against all the G7 countries (barring the US). While the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 dragged back most other developed countries, China grew fast to become the second-largest economy in the world. Chart 3.Prosperity of an average citizenEven though China was the largest economy within the BRICS in 2006, it was nowhere near the most prosperous. In 2006, an average Russian, Brazilian or South African was anywhere between 3 and 3.5 times richer than an average Chinese.Story continues below this adAs CHART 4 shows, two decades later, an average Chinese is richer than a Brazilian and twice as rich as a South African, and is closing the gap with an average Russian. As against an average Indian, an average Chinese was about three times richer in 2006 and is five times richer now. Chart 4.UpshotThe central idea behind BRICS in 2006 was to challenge the dominance of the big industrialised economies in how the world was run.However, China has grown so fast that today it is “the” big industrialised superpower on the planet. In the process, it has dwarfed not just all its BRICS siblings but almost all the erstwhile big economies. Indeed, China has grown so fast that the rest of the world is now finding ways to counterbalance China.The key question is: Will such an overwhelming economic might not have an imprint on what the grouping decides?Udit Misra is Senior Associate Editor at The Indian Express. Misra has reported on the Indian economy and policy landscape for the past two decades. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and is a Chevening South Asia Journalism Fellow from the University of Westminster. Misra is known for explanatory journalism and is a trusted voice among readers not just for simplifying complex economic concepts but also making sense of economic news both in India and abroad. Professional Focus He writes three regular columns for the publication. ExplainSpeaking: A weekly explanatory column that answers the most important questions surrounding the economic and policy developments. GDP (Graphs, Data, Perspectives): Another weekly column that uses interesting charts and data to provide perspective on an issue dominating the news during the week. Book, Line & Thinker: A fortnightly column that for reviewing books, both new and old. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) His recent work focuses heavily on the weakening Indian Rupee, the global impact of U.S. economic policy under Donald Trump, and long-term domestic growth projections: Currency and Macroeconomics: "GDP: Anatomy of rupee weakness against the dollar" (Dec 19, 2025) — Investigating why the Rupee remains weak despite India's status as a fast-growing economy. "GDP: Amid the rupee's fall, how investors are shunning the Indian economy" (Dec 5, 2025). "Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2025: How the winners explained economic growth" (Oct 13, 2025). Global Geopolitics and Trade: "Has the US already lost to China? Trump's policies and the shifting global order" (Dec 8, 2025). "The Great Sanctions Hack: Why economic sanctions don't work the way we expect" (Nov 23, 2025) — Based on former RBI Governor Urjit Patel's new book. "ExplainSpeaking: How Trump's tariffs have run into an affordability crisis" (Nov 20, 2025). Domestic Policy and Data: "GDP: New labour codes and opportunity for India's weakest states" (Nov 28, 2025). "ExplainSpeaking | Piyush Goyal says India will be a $30 trillion economy in 25 years: Decoding the projections" (Oct 30, 2025) — A critical look at the feasibility of high-growth targets. "GDP: Examining latest GST collections, and where different states stand" (Nov 7, 2025). International Economic Comparisons: "GDP: What ails Germany, world's third-largest economy, and how it could grow" (Nov 14, 2025). "On the loss of Europe's competitive edge" (Oct 17, 2025). Signature Style Udit Misra is known his calm, data-driven, explanation-first economics journalism. He avoids ideological posturing, and writes with the aim of raising the standard of public discourse by providing readers with clarity and understanding of the ground realities. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @ieuditmisra ... Read More