<Li> China: 1,403,500,365 </Li> <Li> South Africa: 56,015,473 </Li> <P> BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa . Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010 . The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast - growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G - 20 members . Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits . China hosted the 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen on September 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2017 . The term does not include countries such as South Korea, Mexico and Turkey for which other acronyms and group associations were later created . </P> <P> As of 2015, the five BRICS countries represent over 3.6 billion people, or about 41% of the world population; all five members are in the top 25 of the world by population, and four are in the top 10 . The five nations have a combined nominal GDP of US $16.6 trillion, equivalent to approximately 22% of the gross world product, combined GDP (PPP) of around US $37 trillion and an estimated US $4 trillion in combined foreign reserves . Overall the BRICS are forecasted to expand 4.6% in 2016, from an estimated growth of 3.9% in 2015 . The World Bank expects BRICS growth to pick up to 5.3% in 2017 . The BRICS have received both praise and criticism from numerous commentators . Bilateral relations among BRICS nations have mainly been conducted on the basis of non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit . </P>

When did south africa became a member of brics