India's Trade with BRICS Surges, Widening Deficit

India’s trade with Brics countries gathered pace over the past five years, making the bloc a significant part of the country’s imports. However, this growing trade also reflects a bigger problem: India is relying more on imports from the bloc, pushing its trade deficit higher. A report by Rubix Data Sciences said India’s bilateral trade with the other 10 Brics countries touched $416 billion in CY2025, growing at nearly 10% every year between CY2021 and CY2025. But while trade has increased, India’s goods trade deficit with the bloc has nearly doubled in the same period, rising from $117 billion to $224 billion. A big reason for this is the sharp jump in imports. India’s imports from Brics nations stood at $320 billion in CY2025, growing at a 12% CAGR over five years. This also pushed Brics’ share in India’s total imports from 36% in CY2021 to 43% in CY2025. Within Brics, Russia became one of India’s fastest-growing import partners, with imports rising at a 61% CAGR, mainly because of crude oil purchases. The UAE and Brazil also remained major trade partners, each recording 12% CAGR growth. Exports, however, have not kept pace. India’s exports to Brics countries reached $96 billion in CY2025, growing at just 3% CAGR over the same period. Brics accounted for around 22% of India’s total exports. Among the bloc, exports to the UAE grew the fastest at 11%, followed by Russia at 8% and Egypt at 5%. This gap between imports and exports has widened India’s trade imbalance with several Brics members. In CY2025, India posted trade deficits with China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Indonesia, while trade with Brazil and South Africa remained nearly balanced. China remained India’s biggest source of trade imbalance, with the deficit crossing $100 billion. Russia followed with a $55 billion deficit. The report also showed that the bloc, as a group, continues to be a major force in global trade. In CY2025, Brics countries recorded total exports of $6.1 trillion and imports of $4.9 trillion, making them net exporters with strong production capacity. Between CY2021 and CY2025, Brics maintained about 25% of global exports and 20% of global imports. The bloc’s total trade stood largely unchanged at $10.9 trillion, growing at just 1% CAGR. Brics now accounts for 49.5% of the global population, 40% of world GDP and 26% of global trade.