Nineteen countries and two regional bodies make up this group. Many exam questions mix real members with look-alike non-members. UPSC asked exactly this in 2020. This lesson gives the member list, the common wrong guesses, how the group works and what India did in 2023.
- Members: 19 countries plus the EU and the African Union (since 2023).
- Not members: Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Iran and New Zealand. Spain is a permanent invitee.
- Founded: 1999, after the Asian financial crisis. First leaders’ summit: 2008, Washington DC.
- Structure: no charter, no secretariat. The Presidency, the Troika and the Sherpas run it.
- India 2023: theme One Earth, One Family, One Future. Declaration adopted on 9 September 2023.
- Exam: UPSC CSP 2020 Q65 (answer a).
Contents
1. Which countries are in the G20?
The G20 has 19 countries and two regional bodies. The bodies are the European Union and the African Union. The members are listed in the table.
| Region | Countries |
|---|---|
| Asia | China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey |
| Europe | France, Germany, Italy, Russia, United Kingdom |
| Americas | Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States |
| Africa and Oceania | South Africa, Australia |
Together the members hold about 85% of world GDP. They also carry over 75% of world trade. They hold about two-thirds of the world’s people.
1.1 When did the African Union join?
The African Union became a permanent member at the New Delhi Summit in 2023. The Rio de Janeiro Summit of 18-19 November 2024 was the first one it attended as a member.
2. Which countries are not in the G20?
Some countries sound like members but are not. Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Iran and New Zealand are not on the member list. Spain is a special case, because it attends every year.
- Spain is a permanent invitee. It attends every year but is not a member.
- Other guests change each year. India’s 2023 guests were Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the UAE.
2.1 Why does a guest not count as a member?
A guest is invited by the host for one year. A member sits at every summit. So Singapore came to New Delhi in 2023 but is still not a G20 member.
Explain it back: why is Spain not a member if it attends every year?
Spain is a permanent invitee. It comes every year as a guest. It has no seat as a member.
3. How and why was the G20 formed?
The G20 was founded in 1999, after the Asian financial crisis. It began as a forum for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. They met to discuss global economic and financial problems.
3.1 When did leaders start meeting?
The group was later raised to the level of Heads of State or Government. The first G20 Summit was held in 2008 in Washington DC. Since 2011, the summit has been held every year. A different country holds the Presidency each year.
4. How does the G20 work without a secretariat?
The G20 has no charter and no permanent secretariat. The year’s host is the Presidency. It sets the agenda for that year’s summit.
4.1 What are the Troika and the Sherpas?
The Presidency is helped by the countries holding the Presidency before and after it. This team of three is the Troika. Each leader also has a Sherpa, a personal emissary. Sherpas negotiate through the year.
The work is split into two tracks. They are the Finance Track and the Sherpa Track.
5. What did India do as G20 President in 2023?
India held the Presidency in 2023. The theme was Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, or One Earth, One Family, One Future. The summit was on 9-10 September 2023 in New Delhi.
5.1 How big was the effort?
India held over 200 meetings in 60 cities. The cities covered all 28 States and 8 Union Territories. More than 1,00,000 people from 135 nationalities took part.
5.2 What came out of the summit?
The New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration was adopted unanimously on 9 September 2023. It also admitted the African Union as a permanent member. Two launches happened on the sidelines.
- The Global Biofuel Alliance.
- The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
India also pushed Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). The G20 finished a DPI repository with over 50 DPIs from 16 countries.
Think it through: the African Union is not a country, so how is it a member?
Only 19 of the members are countries. The other two are regional bodies. The African Union is one of them, admitted in 2023.
6. How did UPSC test G20 membership?
UPSC asked a membership question in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020. Each wrong group hid one non-member.
UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020, General Studies Paper I, Set A, Q65.
In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20 ?
(a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey
(b) Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand
(c) Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam
(d) Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea
Read the UPSC question paper (Set A, printed page 29) and the UPSC answer key. The key gives (a). Group (b) has Malaysia and New Zealand. Group (c) has Iran and Vietnam. Group (d) has Singapore. None of these five is a member.
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