The first summit, in 1975, was attended by France, Germany, the US, Britain, Japan and Italy. Known at the time as the G6, it started as a forum for non-Communist powers to address pressing economic concerns, including inflation and recession following an OPEC oil embargo.

Canada was invited to join a year later, creating the G7, which became formalised with annual meetings between the heads of the seven governments.

Representatives of the European Union have been additional participants to summits since 1981.

Russia was first invited as a guest observer in 1997 as a way to encourage then-President Boris Yeltsin's capitalist reforms, and formally joined a year later. However, it was kicked out in 2014 over the annexation of Crimea.