OECD countries still dominate the world economy, but their share of world trade dropped from 73% in 1992 to 64% in 2005, and some of the world’s most important economies are not members of the OECD. Foremost among these are the so-called BRIICS: Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa.

This book analyses key elements of the trade performance of the BRIICS in relation to the rest of the world, focusing on trade and other policies influencing that performance. Developments in global trade policy are reviewed, notably the impact of preferential trade agreements on the multilateral system and patterns of world trade are described using both indices that reveal networks of trading relations and more standard modeling results.

As well as the global analysis, the book also presents a separate chapter for each of the BRIICS, examining the key development and trade issues in each of the six countries over the past few years.