G7

Group of Seven and the European Union

The G7-nations (blue) and the European Union (teal) in the world Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Senior G7 Leader) France President Emmanuel Macron Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer United States President Joe Biden European Union Council President António Costa Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

The Group of Seven (G7) is an international group made up of the seven largest IMF-described advanced economies in the world: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In 2018, the seven countries represented 58% of the global net wealth ($317 trillion) and more than 46% of the global gross domestic product (GDP). The European Union is an invitee to G7.

History

The group began in the early 1970s. The number of members has changed over time. Representatives from four leading economies first met in 1973. The representatives were finance ministers from France, the United Kingdom, the United States and West Germany. Later that year, the four members agreed to invite Japan to attend. These five came to be known as the "Group of Five".

In 1975, Italy was invited to attend the first heads-of-government summit, forming the "Group of Six", or G6. Canada joined in 1976, making the G7. The group meets every year, with a different host and president each year. The president of the European Council has attended since 1977. Since 1987, the finane ministers of G7 countries have met at least twice a year at separate meetings. In some years they have met four times.

From 1995, Russia attended informally, and they joined the group in 1998, creating the G8. On 2 March 2014, the other members of the G8 criticized the "Russian Federation's violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." As a result, Russia was removed from the G8 which was later renamed G7 as there are now seven leaders in the group.

Country leaders and EU representatives (as of 2021)

• 
  Canada
  Justin Trudeau,
  Prime Minister
• 
  France
  Emmanuel Macron,
  President
• 
  Germany
  Olaf Scholz,
  Chancellor
• 
  Italy
  Giorgia Meloni,
  Prime Minister
• 
  Japan
  Shigeru Ishiba,
  Prime Minister
• 
  United Kingdom
  Keir Starmer,
  Prime Minister
• 
  United States
  Joe Biden,
  President
• 
  European Union
  António Costa,
  President of the European Council
• 
  European Union
  Ursula von der Leyen,
  President of the European Commission

Wealth data

Member	Trade mil. USD (2014)	Nom. GDP mil. USD (2014)	PPP GDP mil. USD (2014)	Nom. GDP per capita USD (2014)	PPP GDP per capita USD (2014)	HDI (2017)	Population (2014)	Permanent members of UN Security Council	DAC	OECD	Economic classification (IMF)
Canada	947,200	1,785,387	1,595,975	50,304	44,967	0.926	35,467,000	N	Y	Y	Advanced
France	1,212,300	2,833,687	2,591,170	44,332	40,538	0.901	63,951,000	Y	Y	Y	Advanced
Germany	2,866,600	3,874,437	3,748,094	47,774	46,216	0.936	80,940,000	N	Y	Y	Advanced
Italy	948,600	2,167,744	2,135,359	35,335	35,131	0.880	60,665,551	N	Y	Y	Advanced
Japan	1,522,400	4,602,367	4,767,157	36,222	37,519	0.909	127,061,000	N	Y	Y	Advanced
United Kingdom	1,189,400	2,950,039	2,569,218	45,729	39,826	0.922	64,511,000	Y	Y	Y	Advanced
United States	3,944,000	17,348,075	17,348,075	54,370	54,370	0.924	318,523,000	Y	Y	Y	Advanced
European Union	4,485,000	18,527,116	18,640,411	36,645	36,869	0.899	505,570,700	—	Y	—	Emerging and Developing/Advanced

List of leaders

See the main article: List of G7 leaders

Also see

• Group of Eight (G8)