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Analysis

Quick Conclusion:
A Substantial Success at the 2025 G20 Johannesburg Summit

John Kirton, G20 Research Group, November 23, 2025, 14h00 SAST

The G20’s 20th regular summit, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 22–23 November 2025, produced a substantial performance. Despite the early and increasing opposition of US president Donald Trump, and the ultimate boycott of his government, all the other 20 leaders or the governments of the G20 members attended, participated and issued their consensus declaration at the very start of the first session on the opening day of the summit. To be sure, only 67% of G20 members sent their leaders, the lowest portion ever. But the 20 member governments present and participating produced the G20 South Africa Summit: Leaders' Declaration of almost 11,000 words, which was close to the overall average of all 19 previous summits of just over 12,000 words. The declaration contained 195 collective, precise, future-oriented politically binding commitments, above the G20 summits' average of 171. And the US government ended its complete boycott by agreeing to have the presidency handover ceremony from South Africa for 2025 to the US for 2026, if at the junior foreign ministry level and in the week after the summit ended. Moreover, the G20’s future was agreed by all and its presidency publicly declared for the further two years, and the final two years of the Trump presidency – the United Kingdom in 2027 and Korea in 2028. Thus, for the Johannesburg Summit, the G20 faced its most severe stress test from within or without and both survived and thrived.

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