What is the Group of 20? G20 Origins, Members and Summits

Leaders of the G20 members at the group’s 2021 Summit, in Italy. Photo by the Brazilian Government, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The Group of 20 (G20) is an international forum for economic cooperation between 19 countries, plus the European Union and the African Union. It involves high-level representatives from all of its members, who collaborate with one another to deal with global economic issues. It emerged in 1999 and, since 2008, it gathers the highest representatives from its members in annual summits. These meetings help countries to coordinate their economic policies and to make the international financial system more stable.

Origins of the G20

During the 1990s, there were successive financial crises with global repercussions — in Brazil, Mexico, Russia and in some Asian countries. The collapse of these economies made it clear that the world economy was so intertwined that it needed more regulation. At the time, the Group of 7 (G7) advocated for creating an expanded forum, so as to discuss these issues with additional countries.

The Group of 20 began to exist officially in 1999, but it kept a somewhat informal structure. Contrary to most international organizations, it was born without a permanent secretariat and staff. Instead, it was to be presided by a rotation of members. Each presidency must cooperate with the one before and with the one after, as a means to ensure continuity in the operation of the group. This arrangement is called the “troika” (a group of three) and it persists to this day.

From 1999 to 2008, the G20 was mostly characterized by the meetings of its members’ finance ministers and central bank governors. They discussed and coordinated economic policies, and they received little media attention.

The 2008 financial crisis (also called Great Recession) would provide the impetus to upgrade ministerial meetings to a higher level. Beginning in that year, the heads of state and heads of government of the G20 countries, as well as the highest-ranking representatives of the European Union, would meet annually.

Also beginning in 2008, as a whole, there was a series of meetings that gather lower-level government officials to discuss more specific or technical subjects. These include Working Groups and Sherpa Meetings (the latter are experts on group matters). Much of the G20’s agreements come into being within these settings, rather than by the work of high-level representatives such as foreign ministers.

Members of the G20

This is the list of the 19 countries in the group, plus international organizations:

Developed nations: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Developing nations: Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey.
International organizations: European Union and African Union.

States and other entities that are not official members can participate in the group’s events by invitation. Some have been invited so frequently that they may be considered permanent guests. Such is the case of Spain, a country that still wants to become a fully-fledged member.

The G20 members represent over 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

Summits of the G20

Unlike ministerial events prior to 2008, G20 Summits gather world leaders and undergo increased media scrutiny. These are opportunities for eye-to-eye negotiations between presidents, prime ministers, and secretaries of state. They discuss pressing issues and sign off on declarations and agreements previously prepared by lower-level official and diplomats.

Here’s a summary of all past summits and their main outcomes:

1st, 2nd and 3rd Summits (Washington, London, Pittsburgh) (2008-2009): In the wake of the Great Recession, the members agreed to a comprehensive reform of the international financial system. They began to clamp down on tax evasion and unregulated financial markets. They decided to reinforce the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and of multilateral development banks. They decided that the G20 is “a major decision-making body on matters relating to the global economy”.
4th, 5th and 6th Summits (Toronto, Seoul, Cannes) (2010-2011): The members agreed to limit their public debts and adopted stricter regulation for banks. They also introduced the theme of development policy, called the Seoul Consensus, to their debates.
7th, 8th and 9th Summits (Los Cabos, St. Petersburg, Brisbane) (2012-2014): The members agreed to improve the sharing of tax information, in an attempt to reign in multinational companies who abuse tax havens. In addition, they highlighted social issues such as unemployment, gender inequality, income inequality and economic growth.
10th and 11th Summits (Antalya and Hangzhou) (2015-2016): Following the 2015 migrant crisis in Europe, the members discussed for the first time the migration and refugee movement. Other discussions involved the counterterrorism, climate change, social welfare, and another batch of financial reforms. For example, the members adopted G20 Action Plan on 2030 Agenda as a reference in terms of sustainable development.
12th Summit (Hamburg) (2017): The members placed an emphasis on fighting terrorism and on the “irreversibility” of the Paris Agreement. They also reinforced their commitment to the Agenda 2030.
13th Summit (Buenos Aires) (2018): The members discussed a vast array of contemporary themes — from food security to Fourth Industrial Revolution. Yet this meeting did not produce any tangible result.
14th Summit (Osaka) (2019): The members, once again, discussed many issues. This time, however, they succeeded in releasing an important statement on preventing the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes.
15th Summit (Riyadh) (2020): Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this meeting was virtual. The members decided to “forge a coordinated global response” to this health emergency. They also pledged to inject 5 trillion dollars into the world economy, and they suspended the debts of several developing countries. Both of these initiatives sought to boost economic recovery and they have had significant success.
16th Summit (Rome) (2021): The G20 continued to discuss several themes, but their focus was still on recovering from the pandemic. Another matter was the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
17th Summit (Nusa Dua) (2022): The members continued to mull over the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the world economy. However, they did not sign any major documents signed at this meeting.

The 18th and latest G20 Summit took place in New Delhi, from September 9 to September 10, 2023. Vladimir Putin (Russia) and Xi Jinping (China) did not attend.

The group’s members discussed sustainable development, economic recovery and technological transformations. They highlighted the “human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine”. Also, they invited the African Union to join the G20 — an invitation that has been accepted.

As usual, there were some disagreements at the 2023 summit. The Chinese and the Saudis boycotted a meeting in Kashmir — a region disputed by India and Pakistan. In addition, the Indian government protested against the release of an official Chinese map that places disputable land within China’s territory.

Criticism about the G20

While it was conceived as a means to regulate and stabilize the global economy, some critics argue that the Group of 20 has been unable to do both.

According to research subsidized by the European Central Bank, the effects of the group’s decisions on financial markets “are small, short-lived, non-systematic and non-robust”. The researchers concluded that the group exerts less influence, for instance, than unilateral decisions by the United States Federal Reserve.

Despite not bringing about long-lasting effects on the economy, the G20 remains an important venue for discussing global issues.

Yet, as the Council on Foreign Relations argues, growing political divisions have made it harder to achieve consensus within the group. These are some of the subjects of contention:

The Russian invasion of Ukraine: the United States favors expelling Russia from the group, while Brazil and China are against this idea.
How to handle the fact that many developing nations are requesting debt relief measures, such as bailouts, in order to face the post-pandemic world.
The trade war and the chip war between the United States and China, which undermines the liberal principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The phasing out of coal burning for energy purposes — an issue that pits China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia against developed countries.

The Group of 20 is also a target of the global Left, that believes the group simply promotes a capitalist agenda. Julia Kulik, an academic, says: “Seeing 20-21 people making decisions that affect the entire world is not appealing to a lot of people”. In the past, there have been anti-capitalist and anti-globalist protests in cities that host the group’s summits. In 2023, in order to avoid scenes of violence, the Indian government reinforced security measures in New Delhi.

As an attempt to ward off social criticism, the G20 has established Engagement Groups such as Business20 and Labor20. These are forums where NGOs from group members can participate. Still, they can only make recommendations, rather than decisions, in their sphere of influence.

Conclusion

The G20’s intention was to increase the weight of developing countries in the decisions about the global economy. This goal was reinforced back in 2008, when the developed world suffered more as a result of the financial crisis. Nevertheless, in a world of about 200 countries, even the legitimacy of a 21-member forum can be contested. Indeed, its current significance stems mostly from its annual summits, which facilitate face-to-face interactions between leaders.

Long gone are the days when the world’s biggest economies could seal the fate of everyone in closed-door meetings. While their economic power continues to be gigantic, the voice of the developing countries gets louder and louder. So far, it seems the Group of 20 has lost its momentum. Perhaps it will never recover the amount of power it had when coordinating the response to the 2008 crisis.

For more details about the G20, see the Background Brief that India prepared about it in 2023. It is available at this link.