ECONOMIC POWER OF THE BRICS GROUP AND PARTNER COUNTRIES

The aim of this paper is to characterize the BRICS+ Group and its partner countries in terms of economic power and other derived categories (global shares in GDP, population, and area). The USA, as the BRICS+ Group's main competitor, is also described for comparison. The countries associated with the Group, known as partner countries, are also described. The main research tool in this article is the Sułek model, which was used to calculate state power. The subject of the study is the changes in economic power between 1991 and 2024 for both the BRICS+ Group countries, their partner countries, and the USA. Statistical data for calculating power were obtained from the World Bank, the IMF, and economic portals. The subject of this article falls within the scope of security/geopolitics, particularly powermetrics. China's power peaked before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and since then, a reverse trend has been observed in subsequent years, with China's relative weakening and the United States' economic recovery concurrent. This trend appears to be continuing, with India assuming the role of the most dynamically developing country in the BRICS group over the coming decades. Research shows that over the past three decades, the share of BRICS+ and partner countries in terms of economic power has doubled relative to the United States, from 16% to 33%. China has increased its share of global economic power from 3.6% in 1991 to 16% in 2024.