Why are Spain and Netherlands not included in G20?

First of all: Spain and Netherlands are both member of the European union, which is a member of the G20. But indeed, looking at the numbers both Spain and Netherlands could be also a direct member: List of countries by GDP (nominal) - Wikipedia. But politics is not always based on numbers of course. read more

First of all: Spain and Netherlands are both member of the European union, which is a member of the G20. But indeed, looking at the numbers both Spain and Netherlands could be also a direct member: List of countries by GDP (nominal) - Wikipedia. read more

Spain battled to be a G20 member, and won That's a very good question. Ditto, the Netherlands. Certainly, Spain now has a pretty serious economy (the world's eighth biggest, in fact) but, as something of a latecomer to both democracy and the membership of major international institutions, it is not part of the G20. read more

Because of this the smaller-but-within-top-20 European countries (Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium) have not been included, while some just-outside-top-20 countries in other parts of the world have been (Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Argentina). read more