The forum originated with a 1975 summit hosted by France that brought together representatives of six governments : France , Germany , Italy , Japan , the United Kingdom , and the United States , thus leading to the name '' ' Group of Six ' '' or '' ' G6 ' '' . The summit came to be known as the '' ' Group of Seven ' '' , or '' ' G7 ' '' , in 1976 with the addition of Canada . Russia with an insignificant financial and economic weight was added to the political forum from 1997 , which the following year became known as the G8 . In March 2014 Russia was suspended indefinitely following the annexation of Crimea , whereupon the political forum name reverted to G7 . In 2017 Russia announced its permanent withdrawal from the G8 . However , several representatives of G7 countries stated that they would be interested in Russia 's return to the group . The European Union was represented at the G8 since the 1980s as a " nonenumerated " participant , but originally could not host or chair summits . The 40th summit was the first time the European Union was able to host and chair a summit . Collectively , in 2012 the G8 nations comprised 50.1 percent of 2012 global nominal GDP and 40.9 percent of global GDP ( PPP )
40th summit
40th G7 summit
Group of Eight