The Group of Twenty (G20) was established in 1999 and comprises the Group of Seven (G7) countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, the African Union and the European Union. The G20 members represent 85% of global gross domestic product (GDP), 80% of global trade and two thirds of the world population.
At its first meeting in Berlin in 1999, the G20 emerged as a group of economic and financial authorities, meeting to address the repercussions of the financial crises of the late 1990s. In 2008, owing to the global financial crisis, the G20 held its first summit of Heads of State and of Government, replacing the Group of Eight (G8) and the Group of Eight + Five (G8+5) as the main forum for coordinating responses to crises and for strengthening financial stability worldwide. The G20 continues to address matters relating to global financial stability, international economic cooperation, trade, and investment. It also gives voice to emerging countries whose size or strategic importance mean that they influence the world’s globalized economy.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the G20 Summit in South Africa, in 2025. Photo: Moncloa Press Pool/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa
Spain is a permanent guest invitee to the G20, which enables it to participate in the Group’s leaders’ summits and regular meetings. Spain first attended a G20 meeting at the leaders’ summit of November 2008 in Washington, D.C. Spain was then officially invited to attend the leaders’ summit in London in 2009. Since that meeting, Spain has continued to cement its position within the G20, as befits its political and economic standing within the international community.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Paris, whose primary objective is to promote economic cohesion and development. It was founded in 1961, based on the structure of its forerunner, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which had been formed in 1948 to administer US and Canadian aid under the Marshall Plan. The founding members of OECD were Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States. Other members have joined over the years, bringing the total to the current 38 countries. OECD is also presently negotiating terms of accession with eight further countries. The current member countries represent over 60% of the global market and 70% of global GDP.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during the inauguration of the ministerial-level meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (October 2020). Photo: Moncloa Press Pool/J.M.Cuadrado
As a founding member and a signatory of the founding convention of 1961, Spain has a Permanent Delegation at the OECD headquarters in Paris, allowing OECD and the Spanish Administration to liaise, and enabling Spain to set out its viewpoints in the working groups and on matters relating to the management of the organization. Spain held the Presidency of OECD during 1973 and 1974.
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