G20 Summits List, Countries, Members & Venue

Possible – The G-7 group of big economies started in the 1980s to talk and share thoughts. – In the 1980s, the G-7 group of big economies was created to have discussions and exchange ideas. – The G-7 group Some important people from Canada and the United States in 1999 saw that they should create a secret group of countries with big economies from different parts of the world. Possible – The financial crisis of Mexico in 1994 and the Asian crisis of 1997 made the idea of a separate group faster. Some Asian countries, like South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore, had a lot of money problems in 1997. This happened because Thailand changed the value of its money from the US dollar to something else. This made other countries lose money and many people move The crisis also hurt Russia, which could not pay its debts, and other Latin American countries where Brazil’s money lost a lot of value and became weaker. This made Brazil’s economy worse and caused a ‘Samba Effect’.

G20 Summits List basically popped up after that wild ride known as the Asian Financial Crisis in ‘97-’98. The world figured out the hard way that, wow, just letting the G7 (you know, the old-school club of rich countries) run the show wasn’t cutting it anymore. Turns out, countries like India, China, and Brazil had some pretty major skin in the game too. Shocking, I know.

Anyway, by ‘99, they decided to roll out the G20. But don’t get it twisted—it wasn’t this big flashy leaders’ summit at first. No, just finance ministers and central bank folks sitting around, trying to actually talk to each other for once. Main goal is get everyone on the same financial page and, hopefully, dodge another global money meltdown. Not exactly glamorous, but kind of important.

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What Are G20 Summits?

The G20 Summit brings the leaders of the world’s largest economies together to suppress global challenges and promote economic cooperation. Since its establishment in 2008, G20 has developed from a crisis-management forum to a broad platform, which deal with issues such as financial stability, climate change, sustainable development and global health. You’ve got 19 countries on the guest list—think everyone from the US and China to Argentina and South Africa—plus the European Union, which always seems to sneak into these things. And, as of 2023, the African Union got its own golden ticket too. Altogether, these folks are responsible for a jaw-dropping chunk of the world’s money moves—like, 85% of global GDP, three-quarters of all trade, and most of the people on Earth.

G20 Members:

Countries (19):

Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Mexico
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Türkiye (Turkey)
United Kingdom
United States

Regional Organizations:

European Union (EU)
African Union (AU)

Additionally, Spain is regularly invited as a permanent guest to G20 summits.

How G20 Works:

What Are G20 Summits? Picture it as this year-long mega-group project, except instead of that one kid doing all the work, you’ve got presidents, finance bigwigs, and these mysterious “sherpas”.

So, the G20 splits into two main squads: the finance track and the sherpa track. That’s the Finance Ministers and Central Bank bosses flexing their economic muscles. That’s the so-called “sherpas” (think: political sidekicks, not Himalayan guides) who sort out everything that isn’t finance-y. Basically, the sherpa’s the leader’s right-hand man (or woman)—they run point for their country’s top dog.

Now, both these groups are packed with “experts.” Sounds fancy, but it’s mostly folks from different government departments, plus some invited guests from other countries or international clubs. They break off into smaller groups, nerd out over specific topics, and meet up all year to hash things out.

Meanwhile, the sherpa is keeping tabs on everything, wrangling the agenda, and making sure the summit doesn’t turn into total chaos. You could say they’re the glue holding this circus together.

Oh, and there are these “engagement groups” too, so it’s not all suits and ties. Regular people (well, sort of—think activists, business leaders, researchers, and youth reps) get a seat at the table too. It’s kind of like a big, international town hall with way more coffee.

One more thing: the G20 doesn’t have a fancy G20 Headquarters or anything. No permanent office, no Hogwarts castle. Every year, a new country gets to play host, chosen by something called the “Troika.” That’s basically the last president, the current one, and the next one in line. When India was running the show, it was Indonesia-India-Brazil. Next up, it’ll be India (2023)-Brazil (2024)-South Africa (2025).

Previous G20 Summits:

How Many G20 Summits Have There Been? As of 2024, there have been 19 G20 Summits since the first in 2008. Below is a detailed look at the Past G20 Summits, highlighting key moments and themes.

2008 – Washington DC, USA:

This meeting started the biggest change in global finance in more than 60 years. At the next summit in 2009, held in London, UK, the G20 decided to stop working with countries that wouldn’t help fight tax evasion and avoidance. After the 2008 financial crisis, the G20 promised to control hedge funds and rating agencies more closely. Some changes made were to grow the Financial Stability Forum into a strong group that watches over the world’s financial system.

It was then called the Financial Stability Board. The G20 helped stop countries from becoming more selfish with their trade and money. It also helped agree to make the International Monetary Fund’s budget three times bigger and to give more help to development banks. In 2008, in Washington DC, the G20 agreed not to create new trade or investment rules for 12 months. This rule has been kept in place at every meeting after that.

2009 – Pittsburgh:

G20 Summits List rolled into Pittsburgh and basically said, “Alright, we’re in charge now when it comes to the world’s money problems.” They didn’t just sit around sipping coffee, either—they actually cracked down on banks, telling them, “You can’t just throw your profits around. Keep more cash on hand, just in case you mess up.” Make sure governments—and, honestly, us regular folks—don’t end up footing the bill every time the banks get reckless. Not perfect, but at least it wasn’t just more empty talk.

2010 – Seoul:

Back in 2010, the G20 crowd rolled into Toronto—yep, good old Canada—for one of those classic “let’s fix the world” chats. Rich countries promised they’d rein in their budgets and chill out on borrowing cash from everyone else. Spoiler: not everyone stuck to it, but hey, intentions count for something.

Then later that year, they all hopped over to Seoul. That was wild because suddenly everyone cared about making banks behave (cue Basel III—fancy new rules to stop banks from playing fast and loose). They also shook up who gets a bigger say at the IMF table. Honestly, Seoul was kind of a game-changer. For the first time, they threw development issues into the mix—called it the “Seoul Consensus,” like some snazzy new K-pop band. After that, development became a regular on the G20 playlist.

2011 – Cannes:

At the center of the work plan for the G20 Summit held in Cannes, France, in 2011, was the effort to reform the international monetary system. The G20 leaders also decided to create the Agricultural Market Information System, which is a platform used by different agencies to improve transparency in food markets and help countries work together on policies during crises.

2012 – Los Cabos:

The G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2012 focused on tackling youth unemployment and making sure young people have good jobs that include social security and fair pay. The summit also talked about how development, agriculture, and green growth are connected.

2013 – Saint Petersburg:

St. Petersburg, and a bunch of world leaders are huddled up, probably fueled by way too much coffee and diplomatic small talk. They finally got serious about tax dodgers. The G20 actually agreed to swap tax info automatically—no more playing hide and seek with offshore bank accounts. Plus, they rolled out this thing called BEPS to crack down on those mega-corporations that love to shuffle profits around the globe like a shell game. Basically, they wanted to stop companies from cooking the books and parking their cash wherever the tax man can’t find it. About time, if you ask me.

2014 – Brisbane (Australia):

The G20 set a big goal to increase their total economic output by two percent. They also made a key decision about banking rules, where finance ministers and central bank leaders agreed to use the Common Reporting Standard for sharing tax information automatically. The leaders also supported the “Brisbane 25 by 25” target, which aimed to cut the gap between men and women in the workforce by 25% by the year 2025.

2015 – Antalya:

At the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, in 2015, the G20 first looked at migration and refugee movement. They also agreed on more changes to the financial sector and decided to support the global climate agreement. The Leaders also released a G20 Statement on the Fight against Terrorism.

2016 – Hangzhou (China):

Making sure the global economy isn’t just growing for the big shots but actually lifting up everyone. No more “rich get richer” nonsense—at least that’s the vibe they were going for. They started blending sustainability and social welfare into the whole economic conversation, which, honestly, was about time. China, running the show that year, threw the digital economy into the mix for the first time ever. And then there’s this “G20 Action Plan on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” thing they all nodded along to. That’s basically the cheat sheet they’ve been using ever since whenever the topic of sustainable development pops up in G20 chats.

2017 – Hamburg:

When Germany had the G20 reins, they were all about this whole “Shaping an Interconnected World” vibe—pretty global citizen energy. They actually kicked things off with a big talk on fighting terrorism before the main event even began.

Then there’s the Hamburg Declaration, which everyone nodded along to at the 2017 summit. Basically, it doubled down on the Paris Agreement—like, “Hey, we’re not backing out of this climate thing.” They also threw in some stuff about energy security, saying the shift to cleaner energy should keep the lights on for everyone. Oh, and they nudged those massive development banks to actually help make clean, affordable energy a reality, not just a buzzword.

Not stopping there, G20 leaders were all, “Let’s get our act together with the 2030 Sustainable Development goals and the Addis Ababa finance plans.” Ambitious, sure, but someone’s gotta do it. The “G20 Africa Partnership” (which honestly sounds way catchier as “Compact with Africa”) made its debut—supposed to be a big deal for African economies.

2018 – Buenos Aires (Argentina):

In this summit they were all about trying to get everyone on the same page for growth that wasn’t just for the big guys, but actually, you know, fair and something that might last more than a hot minute. They zeroed in on stuff like what jobs are gonna look like in the future (because robots are coming for all of us), that whole “fourth industrial revolution” buzzword, health, giving young people a fighting chance, building real infrastructure and making sure people weren’t going hungry.

But, obviously, the G20 doesn’t just drop everything else. They kept pushing on the usual suspects—getting women out of the sidelines, smacking down corruption, making the financial world slightly less of a circus, taxes that don’t just let billionaires laugh all the way to their yachts, global trade drama, and, oh, the small matter of climate change. Plus, a massive focus on cleaner and more adaptable energy, because fossil fuels have had their moment, and, let’s be honest, it wasn’t fabulous for the planet.

2019 – Osaka (Japan):

In this summit Japan talked about several important topics like trade and investment, too much steel production, digital technology, moving data safely with trust, the G20 and OECD plan on stopping tax problems, investing in good infrastructure, fighting corruption, climate change, energy, the environment, and issues related to people moving from one place to another. The world leaders also made a key statement about stopping the use of the internet for terrorist activities and extreme violence that supports terrorism.

2020 – Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)

The 15th G20 Summit—happened with this super optimistic theme: “Realising Opportunities of the 21st Century for All.” Anyway, for the first time ever, they ditched the fancy meeting rooms and did the whole thing online. Because of COVID. That move was apparently kicked off by Narender Modi (The prime Minister of India).

Saudi Arabia was running the show that year and they even pulled together an emergency virtual meeting back in March 2020. Freaking out about COVID and trying to get everyone on the same page for a global response. After all the video calls and probably a few awkward silences, the leaders put out a statement about fighting the pandemic, saving the global economy dealing with trade drama, and just generally teaming up to keep the virus from wrecking everything.

2021 – Roma (Italy)

In this summit Italy went big with “People, Planet, Prosperity.” Kinda catchy, and honestly, not just empty words—they actually tried to give it some teeth.

The big four themes – Getting back on our feet after COVID, making economies less wobbly, tackling climate change, and figuring out how to feed everyone without wrecking the earth.

They cooked up this Global Health Summit with the EU, hosted the first-ever mashup of Foreign and Development Ministers (about time those folks talked), and had a one-off meeting just for Development Ministers to zero in on food security. There was even a Women’s Empowerment conference, and the first meeting of G20 Research Ministers and a joint Health and Finance Ministers’ shindig—because pandemics aren’t just about doctors and nurses.

Now, about the Rome Declaration—G20 leaders signed off on this at the health summit in May 2021, basically saying, “Let’s work together and actually end this pandemic mess.” Multilateral cooperation was the buzzword—nobody wants a repeat performance of 2020. They also swore to keep plugging away at preventing and handling global health emergencies. Enter the Matera Declaration. The G20 promised to tackle hunger and malnutrition by transforming agriculture, which sounds good on paper. Let’s just hope that means more than shuffling reports around. The finance ministers and central bankers agreed on a fat global tax reform. Multinational giants gotta pay at least 15% tax wherever they operate. Finally, some teeth in global taxation. It’s the biggest shake-up in, well, forever.

In short: Italy’s G20 presidency wasn’t just a parade of suits and speeches. They actually tried to get stuff done—pandemic, climate, hunger, global tax, Afghanistan.

2022 – Bali (Indonesia)

Indonesia chose Recover Together, Recover Stronger as the overall theme for its Presidency as a way to advance strong and inclusive global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was to reflect the spirit of collective recovery in the world and ensure that the G20 projects an inclusive vision to aid collective recovery and move towards a new chapter of green and inclusive development. There were three main pillars; Global Health Architecture, Digital Transformation and Sustainable Energy Transition.

G20 Summit In India: 2023 – New Delhi

The big G20 shindig hit New Delhi from September 9th to 10th, 2023. That was kind of a flex for India, wrapping up its G20 presidency with a bang. You’ve got all the major players there—the P5 countries, plus a whole bunch more, making up a massive chunk of the world’s economy and, honestly, most of the people on this planet. If you’re India, you’re probably thinking, this is the biggest global powwow we’ve ever hosted since independence.

India rolled out this vibe: “One Earth, One Family, One Future.” Which, if you want to get all Sanskrit-y about it, is rooted in “Vasudhaiva-Kutumbakam.” Basically, the world’s one big, messy family, and we’re all stuck together at the dinner table. Everybody seemed on board with that. Now, get this: India didn’t just stick to one city. They went wild—over 200 meetings, 60 different cities, every single state and union territory got a taste. Forty groups involved, from the Sherpa squad to the Finance nerds and a bunch of side hustles called Engagement Groups. But, when you want to show off your country, you go big or you go home.

The headline act was the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Declaration (NDLD). Everyone signed on, right out the gate. No last-minute drama, which is rare at these things. The declaration itself, Bold, ambitious, and all about fixing big world problems, with a definite “let’s all get along” vibe. India’s basically saying, “we can lead with heart and brains.”

What’s cool is, the whole thing had an Indian twist—pushing for fairness, equal treatment, and making sure nobody gets left behind. The document shouts out peace, real dialogue, and hope, echoing Modi’s whole “this isn’t the time for war” shtick. Through this, India managed to sprinkle some of its own homegrown ideas into the global conversation, getting people to actually listen for a change.

2024 – Brazil

The Rio de Janeiro Declaration—basically took a swing at billionaires, climate change, and, you know, the usual “let’s save the world” agenda. Brazil’s running the show this time, and honestly, they threw in some spicy new topics at the forum that people didn’t see coming.

Making sure nobody gets left behind, actually doing something about hunger and poverty, smacking billionaires with taxes, and kicking fossil fuels to the curb. They even tossed around ideas for making global leadership suck a little less—like beefing up the UN, fixing the dusty old financial system, making trade less rigged, and not letting AI run wild.

They’re starting this Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty G20’s talking about getting everyone clean water and basic sanitation and fighting racism and promoting equality made the cut, which isn’t always a given at these things.

Of course, the leaders did the whole “we promise to fight climate change” dance again, backing the Paris Agreement, talking up carbon neutrality. They’re actually pushing for more cash—both public and private—for green projects, especially in places that get ignored. They’re also calling out the unfair fossil fuel subsidies, which is bold, and saying the world’s financial system needs a serious upgrade if we wanna have a shot at this climate thing.

Man, India’s G20 felt less like just another boring economic pow-wow and more like a flex for global leadership. Seriously, getting everyone to sign off on that final joint statement—even with the Ukraine mess hanging over everything. That’s some legit diplomatic jiu-jitsu right there. And then rolling out the red carpet for the African Union, making them a permanent G20 member? Big move. Toss in the Global Biofuel Alliance and that whole India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor thing—yeah, these aren’t just pet projects, they’re proper power plays with “Made in India” written all over them but aiming way beyond.

The whole “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” mantra—one family, global village, all that jazz—wasn’t just for show. India actually baked those old-school ideas into new policies, staking its claim as the real deal when it comes to repping the Global South. Instead of just parroting whatever the usual big shots say, India came up with its own vibe: talking debt relief, climate cash, building digital public stuff, and actually caring about fair development.

G20 Summit 2025: Johannesburg, South Africa

The G20 Summit 2025 will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, marking the first time an African nation hosts the event. Scheduled for November 22–23, 2025, the 2025 G20 Johannesburg Summit operates under the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability.” South Africa aims to spotlight issues critical to developing nations, especially in Africa, focusing on inclusive economic growth, food security, and sustainable development. The G20 Summit 2025 Held In Which Country? That’s South Africa, with Johannesburg as the host city, pushing for climate finance, debt relief, and fair credit ratings for developing countries.

Looking Ahead: G20 Summit 2026

While the G20 Summit 2026 is not detailed in the provided context, it is confirmed that the United States will take the G20 presidency following South Africa, hosting the summit in 2026. Details on the exact location and theme are yet to be announced, but it’s expected to build on previous agendas while addressing new global challenges.

Why G20 Summits Matter

How Many G20 Summits Have There Been? With 19 summits from 2008 to 2024, the G20 has evolved into a critical platform for global economic governance. The G20 Summits List shows a progression from crisis response to tackling broader issues like climate change, gender equality, and digital transformation. These summits aren’t just talk shops—they’ve driven major reforms, from banking regulations to global tax agreements, and continue to shape the world’s economic and social policies.

G20 Summits List, Countries, Members