BRICS expands to 54.6% of world population by adding Nigeria, Africa's most populous country

BRICS added new partner Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with no. 6 population on Earth. BRICS+ now has 10 members & 9 partners, comprising 54.6% of world population & 42.2% of global GDP (PPP)

BRICS continues to grow. On 17 January, it officially admitted Nigeria as a new partner country.

Nigeria has the world's sixth-largest population, with the biggest population on the African continent.

In addition to being Africa's second-largest economy, Nigeria is the number one oil producer on the continent.

With the addition of Nigeria, BRICS now has 10 full members and nine partners.

Together, the extended BRICS+ group represents 54.6% of the world population.

The 10 members are:

• Brazil

• Russia

• India

• China

• South Africa

• Egypt

• Ethiopia

• Indonesia

• Iran

• United Arab Emirates

The nine BRICS partners, which are on the path to full membership, include:

• Belarus

• Bolivia

• Cuba

• Kazakhstan

• Malaysia

• Nigeria

• Thailand

• Uganda

• Uzbekistan

Brazil, which is the chair of BRICS in 2025, announced Nigeria's admission on 17 January. Brasilia emphasized that BRICS has two main goals: "strengthening South-South cooperation" and "reforming global governance".

Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country with the seventh-largest economy, was also accepted as a BRICS member in early January.

At the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia in 2024, the organization adopted a comprehensive plan to transform the international monetary and financial system, by challenging the dominance of the US dollar and promoting trade and settlement in local currencies.

A map of BRICS membership, as of 19 January 2025, looks as follows:

BRICS+ is nearly 55% of the global population

Ten of the 20 most populous countries on Earth are part of BRICS, including seven of the 10 most populous nations.

Nigeria is expected to have the second-largest growth in population in the upcoming decade, after BRICS co-founder India.

Nigeria's population is estimated to increase by 65 million from 2024 to 2037, and the country's biggest city, Lagos, has been described as a candidate for "the world’s top megacity by the end of the century".

The three most populous countries in Africa are now part of BRICS: Nigeria, in first, is a partner; while Ethiopia, in second, and Egypt, in third, became full members in 2024.

The extended BRICS+ family, with 19 members and partners, together comprise 54.6% of the global population.

This is according to IMF data from October 2024, which reported the total world population as 7.92 billion, and BRICS countries with a combined population of 4.32 billion. (Cuba is excluded from IMF data, so the actual figure is slightly higher.)

Africa will make up 38% of world population by 2100

Africa's share of the global population is going to grow significantly in the 21st century. As Our World in Data reported:

In 2023, Africa is home to around 18% of the global population; by 2100 this is projected to rise to 38%. Asia will see a significant fall from almost 60% today to around 45% in 2100.

By the end of the century, more than 8 out of every 10 people in the world will live in Asia or Africa.

BRICS+ is 42.2% of global GDP (PPP)

Accompanying BRICS' increasing population is its growing share of the global economy.

With Nigeria added, BRICS members and partners now make up 42.2% of world GDP, when measured at purchasing power parity (PPP), based on October 2024 IMF data.

Africa's largest economies

Nigeria has the second-largest economy in Africa, after Egypt, which became a BRICS member in 2024.

The third-biggest economy on the continent is South Africa, which joined BRICS in 2010, just a year after it was initially founded as "BRIC", by Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

Africa's fourth-largest economy, Algeria, was invited to become a BRICS partner at the 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia.

The continent's fifth-biggest economy, Ethiopia, also became a BRICS member in 2024.

Nigeria's economy is larger than that of the Netherlands, when GDP is measured at purchasing power parity.

The economy of BRICS member Egypt is bigger than that of Australia.

BRICS is growing especially influential in global commodities markets.

Nigeria is the top oil producer on the African continent, and the 15th-biggest crude producer on Earth.

Five of the world's top 10 oil-producing countries are members of BRICS. Together, they represent more than 30% of global oil production, and BRICS+ has significant overlap with OPEC+.

If BRICS can de-dollarize part of the global oil market, it can take a big step toward challenging the dominance of the US dollar.