MOSCOW: The share of BRICS countries in the global gross domestic product (GDP) already exceeds the one of G7 and continues to grow, the Russian news agency (TASS) reported, citing President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS Business Forum.

“For example, let’s take 1992 - [the share of] the Group of Seven is 45.5 per cent, and in the same year the BRICS countries (account for) 16.7 per cent of global GDP.

“And now? In 2023 our association (accounts for) 37.4 per cent, and the (share of) Group of Seven is 29.3 per cent. The gap is widening and it will widen, this is inevitable,“ the Russian leader noted.

Putin stressed that BRICS plays a significant role in the global economy not only today.

“It is quite obvious that this role will increase in the future as well. The countries that are part of our association are in fact the drivers of global economic growth. And it is in BRICS that the main increase in global GDP will be generated in the foreseeable future,“ the Russian President said.

The Russian leader stressed that the joint work of BRICS to accelerate socio-economic growth and ensure sustainable development brings tangible results, and actually contributes to improving the well-being and quality of life of ordinary citizens of our countries.

According to Putin, the figures speak for themselves. He cited statistics according to which the association’s combined GDP is more than $60 trillion, and its total share in the world’s gross product confidently exceeds the corresponding figure for the so-called Group of Seven and continues to grow.

“In recent decades, over 40 per cent of the growth in global GDP, the entire global economic dynamics, came from the BRICS countries. Based on the results of the current year, the average rate of economic growth in BRICS is projected at 4 per cent. This is higher than both the rates in the G7 countries - there it is only 1.7 per cent - and the global rates. The global rates will be 3.2 per cent,“ Putin said.

He also recalled that BRICS accounts for about a quarter of global goods exports, while companies from the association’s countries dominate many key markets, including energy resources, metals, food, that is, markets for those goods without which sustainable economic development is impossible.

- Bernama, TASS