Co-ops are a global phenomenon

By Pat Moral

A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise (ICA). 

In fact, in the UK alone, there are nearly 7,000 co-operatives that contribute over £36 billion a year to the UK’s economy. These figures are even more impressive if we look at the global picture: over 1 billion people are members of co-operatives worldwide.

Co-ops around the world

In Canada - four of every ten Canadians are members of at least one co-operative. In Quebec, approximately 
70% of the population are co-op members, while in Saskatchewan 56% are members. Source: Co-operative 
Secretariat, Government of Canada.

In Spain - 15% of the population or 6.7 million people are members of a co-operative. Source: 
CIRIEC, Las grandes cifras de la economía social.

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