The global creative industries market reached USD 2.9 trillion in 2024 and could exceed USD 4.3 trillion by 2033, according to a TV BRICS study examining cross-border investment and economic cooperation across BRICS+ nations. Growing at an average annual rate of 4.3 per cent, the sector currently accounts for approximately 3.1 per cent of global gross domestic product, three per cent of global trade, and more than six per cent of global employment.
Development Models Across BRICS+ Nations
The study identifies three distinct development models within the BRICS+ grouping. The innovation and technology model is anchored by China and the United Arab Emirates, both possessing large-scale technological infrastructure and venture financing capabilities. A hybrid model includes Russia, Brazil, and Indonesia, using significant human resources and consumer potential. The traditional cultural model encompasses India, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia, where economic potential relies heavily on cultural heritage, national identity, and tourism assets.
China leads the BRICS+ creative economy by volume at USD 879 billion, followed by Indonesia at USD 105 billion, Russia at USD 87 billion, and Brazil at USD 78 billion. The share of the creative economy in national gross domestic product varies, reaching 7.3 per cent in Indonesia, 4.6 per cent in China, 4.1 per cent in Russia, and 3.6 per cent in Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, based on national strategies evaluated in the study. In India, creative sectors employ approximately 50 million people, representing 8.3 per cent of the country’s workforce.
Infrastructure and Urban Innovation Clusters
Major urban centers serve as established creative and innovation clusters within the bloc, connecting talent, technology, infrastructure, and capital. Shanghai and Beijing function as major hubs for technology, animation, and digital industries, while Guangzhou and Hangzhou expand in esports and technology-driven content. Dubai combines finance, architecture, design, luxury industries, and international cultural events. Mumbai maintains its position as a major film and animation center, São Paulo integrates music, architecture, and design, and Moscow maintains strengths in information technology and industrial design. In Egypt, Giza was admitted to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Film, connecting historical production assets such as Studio Misr and Media Production City with tourism and heritage-based design.
Financial and Structural Challenges
Despite strong market figures, the sector faces systemic obstacles, including limited access to finance, inconsistent government support, digital inequality, and discrepancies in how countries classify and measure creative industries. Abed Amiri, an expert on BRICS economic and technological cooperation, noted that financial systems in several member countries still encounter difficulties in properly valuing intellectual assets such as brands, software, patents, and cultural content. Because creative enterprises often hold intellectual property rather than physical real estate or machinery, traditional bank lending remains difficult to secure.
Georgy Grits, an economics and business expert and Candidate of Economic Sciences, stated that the global market underestimates the competitive advantages of BRICS+, observing that the bloc combines Eastern capital, African demographics, modern technologies of China and Eurasia, and dominance in raw materials and energy markets. To unlock this potential, Grits proposed establishing regional financing mechanisms and cross-border initiatives to support creative entrepreneurship and expand exports of goods and services.
Areas for Cross-Border Cooperation
Cooperation frameworks focus on several high-growth segments, including joint films and television series, gaming, animation, digital art, design, cultural tourism, and education. According to secondary economic analyses, realizing these opportunities requires compatible systems for intellectual-property protection, licensing, digital payments, and cross-border transactions to bridge gaps between national regulatory frameworks and measurement standards.
Related reading