In economics, BRIC (typically rendered as "the BRICs" or "the BRIC countries" or known as the "Big Four") is a grouping acronym that refers to the related countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

The acronym was coined by Jim O'Neill in a 2001 paper entitle "The World Needs Better Economic BRICs". The acronym has come into widespread use as a symbol of the shift in global economic power away from the developed G7 economies toward the developing world.

According to a paper published in 2005, Mexico and South Korea are the only other countries comparable to the BRICs, but their economies were excluded initially because they were considered already more developed. Goldman Sachs argued that, since they are developing rapidly, by 2050 the combined economies of the BRICs could eclipse the combined economies of the current richest countries of the world. The four countries, combined, currently account for more than a quarter of the world's land area and more than 40% of the world's population.

Goldman Sachs did not argue that the BRICs would organize themselves into an economic bloc, or a formal trading association, as the European Union has done.However, there are some indications that the "four BRIC countries have been seeking to form a 'political club' or 'alliance'", and thereby converting "their growing economic power into greater geopolitical clout".On June 16, 2009, the leaders of the BRIC countries held their first summit in Yekaterinburg, and issued a declaration calling for the establishment of a multipolar world order

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