The BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are the largest of the middle- income economies and together account for over a fifth of the global economy. In 2017, the service sector accounted for a half to two-thirds of each country’s economy. For all BRICS economies, industry was the second largest sector, and ranged between less than a fifth of the economy in Brazil to more than two-fifths in China. Agriculture, as a share of GDP, accounted for less than 5 percent in Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, while in China and India it accounted for 8 and 15 percent.
With the exception of Brazil, the impact of the service sector on national growth was the highest in 2017 for other BRICS countries. For example, the contribution of services to growth was about 60 percent (4.1 percentage points out of 6.9 percent growth) in China and 58 percent (3.9 percentage points out of 6.7 percent growth) in India, whereas contribution of industry to growth was about 36 percent (2.5 percentage points) in China and 24 percent (1.6 percentage points) in India.
In Brazil, the slowest growing economy in 2017 among BRICS, the services and industry sectors were virtually stagnant. It was the only BRICS country where agriculture contributed the most to GDP growth, however, it accounted for a relatively negligible share of GDP.