Intra-BRICS trade holds huge untapped potential: Commerce Secretary

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said intra-BRICS trade has grown significantly but still accounts for only 5 per cent of global trade, highlighting untapped potential. India, holding the BRICS chairship, emphasized stronger integration, value chains, and expanded cooperation in goods and services.

New Delhi: The intra-BRICS trade has increased multiple times over the last few years but it accounts for only around 5 per cent of the global trade, reflecting huge untapped potential for deeper integration and stronger value-chain linkages, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said. BRICS is a grouping of 11 developing countries – Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

It acts as a platform for consultation and cooperation on contemporary issues having global as well as regional significance, and issues of global political and economic governance. India has assumed the BRICS Chairship for the fourth time, after 2012, 2016 and 2021.

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Addressing the 2nd Meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Trade and Economic Issues, held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on May 14-15, Agrawal said intra-BRICS merchandise trade has risen 13-fold, from USD 84 billion in 2003 to USD 1.17 trillion in 2024.

However, he said, this “trade still accounts for only around 5 per cent of global trade, indicating significant untapped potential for deeper trade integration, stronger value-chain linkages and enhanced economic cooperation”.

Issues such as promoting more balanced trade, and opening new opportunities in the services sector were also discussed in the meeting. India’s exports to BRICS member countries were estimated at USD 82 billion in merchandise goods in 2025-26 and USD 31.3 billion in services calender year 2024.