BRICS surpass G7 GDP, India, China major economies with fast growth

Countries in the BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — have surpassed the Group of Seven (G7) in terms of gross domestic product (GDP)  calculated on purchasing power parity (PPP), according to a report published on countercurrents.org that cited data from Acorn Macro Consulting.

It should be noted that the G7 group of countries includes advanced economies like the US, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. The BRICS, on the other hand, are home to 41 per cent of the global population, mostly developing economies, and account for 16 per cent of global trade.

According to the report, the five BRICS countries together contribute nearly 31.5 per cent of the global GDP, compared to 30.7 per cent by G7 countries.

The development has come at a time when the Western countries are struggling with the clouds of a recession. The inflationary pressures, coupled with relentless rate hikes by central banks around the world, have hit Europe hard at a time when Russia is conducting a full-scale invasion into Ukrainian territory, which has accentuated the trouble for Europeans. The war has resulted in high food and fuel prices.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects negative growth for the UK. The US is expected to be the best-performing economy among the G7 nations, with a growth forecast of nearly 2 per cent.

On the other hand, India and China are expected to lead global growth this year. Both Asian economies are expected to deliver growth of five to seven per cent this year.

India is predicted to register one of the fastest expansions of any major regional economy in the world. It is projected to grow 6.4 per cent in 2023. This is lower than India's GDP growth last year, which was 6.8 per cent.