‘BRICS Contributes Over 40% Of Global GDP’: Putin Says New Engines Of Growth Are Reshaping World Economy

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said reliable business-to-business ties and economic partnerships are the backbone of international economic relations and help overcome the problems facing the world, as he addressed the BRICS Business Forum 2026 in the national capital. 

"This gathering shows the growing interest in strengthening business contacts and relations across the BRICS space. It is evident that reliable business-to-business ties and economic partnerships are the backbone of international economic relations. It helps build relations in a stronger, more resilient manner. It helps to overcome the problems the world is facing," Putin said.  

"And right now, the world is undergoing structural, deep, profound shifts, which is explained by the fact that the so-called old leaders, which used to be the vanguard of economic growth in the second half of the 20th century, are being replaced by new engines of growth. When I say old, this is just a formality; all of us understand what we are talking about. And these so-called old leaders are still in possession of great strengths and well-developed infrastructure and significant scientific developments," he added. 

Putin linked the importance of such economic ties to broader changes in the global economy, saying that shifts in the international economic order are a natural and continuing process. 

"It is in the nature of things, nature of humanity and nature of economy that changes can't be stopped, and the world is always changing, and this is attested to by objective facts in the last five years," he said. 

Highlighting the growing economic weight of the BRICS grouping, Putin pointed to the contribution of BRICS countries to the global economy compared with the G7. 

"In the last five years, more than 40 per cent of the world's GDP [is] contributed by BRICS, and the so-called G7, why they call it the great 7, stands only at 29 per cent," the Russian President said. 

Putin's remarks came at the BRICS Business Forum 2026, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined BRICS leaders, the Chairs of the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women's Business Alliance. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, among other dignitaries, were present at the forum. 

The BRICS Business Forum is the flagship private sector platform of the BRICS grouping and is convened annually in the Summit host country on the eve of the Leaders' Summit. It brings together business leaders, Ministers and Heads of State to discuss trade, investment, finance, technology and development challenges that shape the BRICS economic agenda. 

The Forum also serves as a platform where key ideas and suggestions from the Council are presented and discussed. It plays a strong agenda-setting role, with its conclusions and the Business Council's recommendations regularly reflected in BRICS Summit declarations and follow-up work plans. 

The recommendations particularly cover intra-BRICS trade, investment, digital economy, MSMEs, standards cooperation and value chain integration. 

The BRICS Business Forum comes as India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit under its 2026 chairship. India's Chairship is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, with development, sustainability and innovation forming key areas of focus. 

BRICS has emerged as an important platform for coordination among major emerging economies and for advancing the interests of the Global South in multilateral institutions. Its agenda covers development, finance, technology, trade and people-to-people exchanges. 

The grouping currently comprises 11 countries -- Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE. 

India's BRICS Chairship comes amid global economic fragmentation, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and resource pressures. For India, the 2026 Chairship is focused on translating the expanded representation of BRICS into meaningful cooperation and tangible outcomes, while building consensus among its diverse members and strengthening the effectiveness of existing mechanisms.