Which BRICS Countries Trade the Most With Each Other?

Who Trades the Most Within BRICS?

Key Takeaways:

• China is the dominant exporter in the dataset, with $523 billion in goods exports to the other nine BRICS members shown.

• The largest export flow is China’s $136 billion in exports to India, followed by Russia’s $124 billion in exports to China.

• Export relationships vary significantly in size, from flows exceeding $100 billion to those worth less than $100 million.

BRICS now has 11 members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the UAE. Together, they span several regions and have very different export profiles.

This graphic, created by Iswardi Ishak, visualizes 2025 goods exports between 10 BRICS members using data from the International Trade Centre.

Each cell shows exports from one member to another, rather than total two-way trade between the two countries. Saudi Arabia is not included in the matrix shown.

China Is the Biggest Exporter in the Matrix

The following table shows the value of goods exported from one BRICS member to another in 2025, based on ITC’s Trade Map.

Exporting CountryImporting CountryTotal Value of Exports (in USD Billions)

Brazil China100

Brazil Egypt3.7

Brazil Ethiopia0.03

Brazil India6.9

Brazil Indonesia4.1

Brazil Iran2.9

Brazil Russia1.5

Brazil South Africa1.5

Brazil UAE3.8

China Brazil72

China Egypt20

China Ethiopia3.9

China India136

China Indonesia85

China Iran6.9

China Russia103

China South Africa23

China UAE73

Egypt Brazil1.1

Egypt China0.49

Egypt Ethiopia0.08

Egypt India0.64

Egypt Indonesia0.18

Egypt Iran0.004

Egypt Russia0.81

Egypt South Africa0.16

Egypt UAE7

Ethiopia Brazil0.001

Ethiopia China0.78

Ethiopia Egypt0.03

Ethiopia India0.2

Ethiopia Indonesia0.03

Ethiopia IranNo Data

Ethiopia RussiaNo Data

Ethiopia South Africa0.01

Ethiopia UAENo Data

India Brazil6.9

India China18

India Egypt4

India Ethiopia0.47

India Indonesia4.3

India Iran1.2

India Russia4.5

India South Africa7

India UAE39

Indonesia Brazil2.2

Indonesia China67

Indonesia Egypt1.9

Indonesia Ethiopia0.11

Indonesia India18

Indonesia Iran0.25

Indonesia Russia1.9

Indonesia South Africa0.989

Indonesia UAE4

Iran Brazil0.09

Iran China3

Iran Egypt0.003

Iran EthiopiaNo Data

Iran India0.5

Iran Indonesia0.009

Iran RussiaNo Data

Iran South Africa0.006

Iran UAENo Data

Russia Brazil9.4

Russia China124

Russia Egypt5.2

Russia EthiopiaNo Data

Russia India59

Russia Indonesia3

Russia IranNo Data

Russia South Africa0.5

Russia UAENo Data

South Africa Brazil0.29

South Africa China13

South Africa Egypt0.09

South Africa Ethiopia0.07

South Africa India4.7

South Africa Indonesia0.36

South Africa Iran0.006

South Africa Russia0.39

South Africa UAE3

UAE Brazil0.63

UAE China35

UAE Egypt2.6

UAE EthiopiaNo Data

UAE India67

UAE Indonesia2.4

UAE IranNo Data

UAE RussiaNo Data

UAE South Africa2.6

China’s row is the most consistently high-value in the matrix, with exports exceeding $70 billion to five BRICS markets: India, Russia, Indonesia, the UAE, and Brazil.

Russia’s exports to China are another major relationship, reaching $124 billion. Together, these figures show how heavily many of the largest export flows within the group are connected to China.

This concentration is consistent with a broader UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) analysis, which found that intra-BRICS merchandise exports increased more than 13-fold from 2003 to $1.17 trillion in 2024, with China playing a central role in the network.

Why Some BRICS Export Flows Are So Small

At the other end of the matrix, some export relationships are tiny by comparison. While the largest flows exceed $100 billion, exports between some member pairs amount to less than $100 million.

One reason is that BRICS is an informal, consensus-based grouping rather than a customs union or free-trade area. Its members differ considerably in geography, infrastructure, regulations, and economic specialization.

Ethiopia’s exports to several members, for example, are below $100 million. Missing entries for Iran and Russia should not automatically be interpreted as zero exports, as they may reflect reporting gaps in the underlying dataset. UNCTAD notes that institutional and regulatory differences, along with geopolitical factors, continue to constrain deeper integration.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To see how the group’s economic weight could evolve, check out BRICS GDP Growth to Triple G7 in 2026 on the Voronoi app.