India’s BRICS Trade Surges, But So Does Its $130 Bn Deficit

As India prepares to host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, the country faces a growing trade imbalance with the 10 other members of the expanded grouping. India’s goods trade with the bloc has expanded rapidly, but imports are rising much faster than exports, leaving New Delhi with a widening deficit.

In  H1 CY2026, India’s exports to the other BRICS countries stood at around $48 billion, while imports were nearly four times higher at $178 billion, according to a Rubix Data Sciences analysis based on International Trade Centre data. The resulting trade deficit widened 17.2% year-on-year to $130 billion.

The numbers highlight a key challenge for India as it seeks deeper economic integration with BRICS: the grouping is an increasingly important source of imports, but a much smaller market for Indian exports.

In H1 CY2026, the other 10 BRICS members accounted for 43% of India’s merchandise imports but only 20% of its exports.

China and Russia are at the heart of this imbalance, together accounting for 61% of India’s imports from the other BRICS economies. India’s largest trade deficits in H1 CY2026 were with China, at $62.9 billion, and Russia, at $33.6 billion.

India recorded trade surpluses with only Egypt and Ethiopia, while it ran deficits with the remaining eight BRICS members.

China And Russia Are At The Centre Of The Deficit

China and Russia account for much of the pressure on India’s trade balance. China was the largest source of India’s imports from the other BRICS countries in H1 CY2026, accounting for 41%, while Russia contributed another 20%. On the export side, the UAE was India’s largest BRICS destination, accounting for 34% of exports, followed by China at 22%.

India’s largest individual trade deficit within the bloc was with China, at around $62.9 billion in H1 CY2026. Russia followed with a deficit of approximately $33.6 billion.

The composition of the China trade also shows why the deficit is difficult to narrow quickly. Chinese exports to India reached $79 billion in H1 CY2026, up 21.5% year-on-year. Electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, organic chemicals and plastics were among the major export categories.

India’s exports to China also grew strongly, rising 33.3% year-on-year to $12 billion, with ores and minerals, iron and steel, organic chemicals and cotton among the major products. However, the much smaller export base means that even faster percentage growth does little to close the absolute gap.

China’s trade surplus with India consequently reached $67 billion in H1 CY2026, up 19.6% from the previous year.

BRICS Itself Is A Global Trade Powerhouse

The significance of this relationship becomes clearer when viewed against the scale of BRICS’ global trade.

The expanded 11-member grouping accounted for approximately 24% of global merchandise exports and 19% of global merchandise imports in CY2025, according to Rubix. Its total merchandise trade stood at around $11 trillion in 2025. Trade recovered strongly in the first half of 2026, reaching approximately $5.8 trillion, a 15.4% increase from H1 CY2025.

However, the bloc’s trade strength is concentrated in a few economies. China alone accounted for 66% of total BRICS exports in H1 CY2026, up from around 56% in 2022. India, by comparison, accounted for roughly 8% of the bloc’s exports.

China also represented 59% of BRICS imports, compared with India’s 16%. This makes China not only India’s biggest trading challenge within BRICS, but also the dominant player shaping the bloc’s internal trade flows.

China’s Trade With Russia Tells A Different Story

Interestingly, China’s trade relationship with Russia looks very different from its relationship with India.

China’s goods trade with Russia reached $133 billion in H1 CY2026, up 25.5% year-on-year. Chinese exports to Russia rose 27.7% to $60 billion, led by machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles and plastics.

But China imported even more from Russia, with imports rising 23.7% to $73 billion, largely because of mineral fuels, crude oil, petroleum products, ores and metals. As a result, China recorded a $13-billion trade deficit with Russia in H1 CY2026.

The contrast is significant: while India runs large deficits with both China and Russia, China’s trade with Russia is supported by its purchases of Russian energy and raw materials.

West Asia Adds Another Layer Of Risk

The BRICS trade picture is also being shaped by geopolitical disruptions, particularly the conflict in West Asia.

As per reports, trade performance among BRICS economies has diverged sharply. In H1 CY2026, Iran’s total merchandise trade fell 22.8% year-on-year, while the UAE recorded a 10% contraction. Saudi Arabia’s trade was broadly stagnant.

By contrast, China’s merchandise trade grew around 21%, South Africa’s 20%, India’s 12% and Russia’s 11.6%.

The report notes that disruptions to energy flows and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have affected China’s access to regional crude supplies. The WTO has also warned that the effects of the disruptions could become more visible in subsequent trade data.

For India, which is seeking to deepen trade with the wider BRICS grouping, such geopolitical shocks reinforce the importance of diversifying both export markets and sources of critical imports.

Can BRICS Become A Bigger Export Market For India?

The UAE and China were India’s two largest BRICS export markets in H1 CY2026, accounting for 34% and 22% of exports respectively. Meanwhile, China and Russia together accounted for 61% of India’s imports from the other BRICS members.

India’s challenge is therefore twofold: increase the number and value of goods it can sell across BRICS while reducing excessive dependence on a handful of suppliers.

The bloc is already a major force in global commerce, and its trade recovered strongly in 2026. But India currently occupies a stronger position as a buyer from BRICS than as a seller to it.

As India seeks deeper economic integration with the grouping, the key question will be whether BRICS can become a larger market for Indian products — particularly for MSMEs and higher-value manufacturers — rather than primarily remaining a source of machinery, electronics, energy and other critical inputs.