BRICS: An acronym first used in 2003 to describe the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. According to Forbes Magazine, the general consensus is that the term was first used in a Goldman Sachs report which speculated that by 2050 these four economies would be wealthier than most of the current major economic powers.

In March 2012, South Africa was added to the acronym, thus becoming “BRICS.” At that time, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met in India to discuss the formation of a development bank to pool resources. At that point, the BRIC countries were responsible for about 18 percent of the world’s GDP and 40 percent of the world’s population.

Source: About.com