More than 17% of Europe’s population are members of a co-operative, according to a new report by Cooperatives Europe. The research, released at Cooperatives Europe’s General Assembly in Paris, shows that co-operatives provide more than 4.7 million jobs and have a total annual turnover of €1,005bn.
Europe has nearly 180,000 co-operative enterprises with more than 140 million members. In the EU specifically one in five people is a member of a co-operative. The report also reveals that since 2009 co-operative membership figures have increased by 16% in the EU.
Dirk J. Lehnhoff, president of Cooperatives Europe, commented: “The results of this report demonstrate the significant size and scale of the co-operative movement in Europe, an important precondition for achieving greater influence in shaping relevant European socio-economic policies. At the same time this report lays the foundation for greater research co-operation amongst our members and for learning from each other, in particular on how to grow and develop further co-operatives in the different European countries. ”
The report is based on a research project that lasted 18 months combining efforts and contributions from 40 national and sectoral experts from 34 European countries.
