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India
oi-Ashish Rana
India has made progress in its share of the global economy but still it’s not enough and needs closer attention. According to economist Surjit Bhalla much of BRICS’s economic growth in the last 15 years has been only driven by China.
Economist Surjit Bhalla observes India’s world income share increased to 3.5% by 2025, yet China drove 72% of BRICS economic growth and 94% of export gains. Vietnam’s much faster export expansion than India’s suggests India should focus more on its own economic performance.
India’s Income Share Has Increased
Surjit Bhlla said India is the second-best performer in the five long-standing BRICS members and it ranks 26th in the world, with the annual income growth of 5.2 percent only.
Interestingly, India’s share of world income increased from 2.5 percent in 2011 to 3.5 percent in 2025. Its per-capita income also rose from 13.4 percent of the global average to 18.7 percent.
“That is real progress and it should be said plainly, because the fashion is to say otherwise,” Bhalla said. However, he added, “It is also not enough.”
China Behind Most BRICS Growth
According to Surjit Bhalla’s calculations using World Bank data, BRICS’s share of world income increased from 21.9 percent in 2011 to 28.9 percent in 2025. But if China is excluded, the share will fall from 11.9 percent to 11.5 percent.
China’s own share also rose sharply from 10 percent to 17.4 percent and it was responsible for 72 percent of the total increase in BRICS income during this period of time.
“The grouping has become more Chinese by every measure except people,” Bhalla said.
1/ BRICS went from 21.9% of world income in 2011 to 28.9% in 2025.
Now take out China.
The other ten members went from 11.9% to 11.5%.
They did not rise. They fell. pic.twitter.com/rq18XYMIA1— Surjit Bhalla (@surjitbhalla) September 13, 2026
China Also Leads BRICS Export Growth
The trade figures show a similar trend. BRICS’ share of global goods exports rose from 23 per cent in 2011 to 25 per cent in 2023. Without China, it declined from 12.4 per cent to 10.1 per cent.
China accounted for 94 per cent of the increase in BRICS goods exports.
Bhalla also excluded China and four oil exporters, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran, to get a cleaner comparison. The remaining six countries, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia, accounted for 5.1 per cent of global goods exports in both 2011 and 2023.
“That is the cleanest number in this exercise, and it is the most damning,” he said.
India Trails Vietnam In Exports
Bhalla highlighted India’s export performance against Vietnam. India’s share of global goods exports increased from 1.71 per cent in 2011 to 1.88 per cent in 2023.
Vietnam’s share jumped from 0.52 per cent to 1.50 per cent. Its exports increased from $93 billion to $345 billion, while India’s rose from $307 billion to $432 billion.
“A country with a fifteenth of our population has almost caught us,” Bhalla said.
He argued that this comparison shows why India should focus more on its own economic performance rather than viewing BRICS as the main driver of its future.
“That is not a BRICS failure. It is ours,” Bhalla said.
