G8

The G8, or Group of Eight, originated in 1973. At first it was a group of five: West Germany, the United States, France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, who joined together to unite their positions on issues of global impact such as the environment, the economy, trade, agriculture, employment, etc.

In the following years, Italy and Canada joined and together they formed the G-7, in which the European Union is also represented. Although Russia joined the group in 1998, at which time it was renamed G-8, it was expelled by the rest of the members due to the annexation of Crimea, so the G-7 is currently in operation.

In the following link you can see the main economic variables of the G8 members