The intra-BRICS trade has increased multiple times over the last few years, but it accounts for only around 5 per cent of the global trade, reflecting huge untapped potential for deeper integration and stronger value-chain linkages, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said.
BRICS is a grouping of 11 developing countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. It acts as a platform for consultation and cooperation on contemporary issues having global as well as regional significance, and issues of global political and economic governance. India has assumed the BRICS Chairship for the fourth time, after 2012, 2016 and 2021.
Addressing the Second Meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Trade and Economic Issues, held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on May 14-15, Agrawal said intra-BRICS merchandise trade has risen 13-fold, from USD 84 billion in 2003 to USD 1.17 trillion in 2024.
However, he said, “this trade still accounts for only around 5 per cent of global trade, indicating significant untapped potential for deeper trade integration, stronger value-chain linkages and enhanced economic cooperation”.
Issues like promoting more balanced trade and opening new opportunities in the services sector were also discussed in the meeting.
India's exports to BRICS member countries were estimated at USD 82 billion in merchandise goods in 2025-26 and USD 31.3 billion in services calendar year 2024.
Also read: No BRICS consensus as West Asia conflict divides members
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