The Rise of an Economic Powerhouse: Wealth and Growth in the Expanded BRICS Bloc

The BRICS bloc is challenging the global economic order and establishing itself as a rival to the G7, with total wealth of $45 trillion. But risks remain on its path to realizing a new world order.

The geopolitical tremors from including five influential Middle Eastern and North African nations into the BRICS bloc earlier this year continue to reverberate around the world. With the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, emerging economies representing the Global South now account for over 45% of the world's population and more than one-third of the global GDP.

According to the inaugural BRICS Wealth Report published this week by Henley & Partners, the bloc's total investable wealth has reached a staggering $45 trillion. The number of millionaires living in BRICS nations is forecast to surge by 85% over the next decade, with ultra-wealthy elites also on the rise. Over 5,000 centi-millionaires and almost 550 billionaires reside within the borders of BRICS countries.

The report provides unique insights into the seismic shift occurring within the global balance of financial power. While the hegemony of Western economies like the United States appears to be waning, the BRICS are positioning themselves as serious challengers - politically and economically.

A decade of meteoric private wealth growth within BRICS powerhouses China and India has fueled this challenge. Since 2013, the number of millionaires in China skyrocketed by 92% to around 860,000 high-net-worth individuals, including over 300 billionaires. India trails close behind, with 85% millionaire growth seeing over 300,000 HNWIs make their home there today. Significant wealth expansion in Middle East entrants like the UAE and Saudi Arabia also propels BRICS to new heights.

When it comes to future wealth projections, the emerging bloc seems poised to continue outpacing advanced economies. The per capita wealth growth rates forecast for leading BRICS members India, Saudi Arabia, and UAE over the next 10 years sit between 95% and 110% - exponential expansion compared to anemic growth in most Western nations.

Urban dynamos like Beijing, Shanghai, and Mumbai already boast more resident millionaires than global cities London, Hong Kong, or Singapore. Chinese megacities occupy half of the Top 10 wealthiest BRICS cities currently, but fast-rising contenders like India's technology hub Bengaluru are set to join them.

"Economically, non-Western nations – with BRICS at the vanguard – are pushing the globe into a new reality,” comments finance expert Jeff D. Opdyke in the report. “An emerging economic, social, and monetary status quo that is upending what the world has accepted as normal for nearly eight decades.”

Yet questions remain about whether BRICS will turn rhetoric into reality. But one thing is clear - global economic might is gradually shifting away from the G7 toward this new force from the Global South. If fully realized, the promise of the BRICS bloc is nothing less than the dawn of a new world order.