Global Census on the Cooperative Economy

“Cooperative businesses have lower failure rates than traditional corporations and small businesses, after the first year of startup, and after 5 years in business. About 10% of cooperatives fail after the first year while 60-80% of traditional businesses fail after the first year. After 5 years, 90% of cooperatives are still in business, while only 3 – 5% of traditional businesses are still operating after 5 years.”*

“It’s very difficult to determine how to support or aid cooperative development without reliable data on the size and impact of cooperatives. Despite having completed the United Nation’s International Year of Cooperatives (IYC), clear, concise and reputable data on the number of cooperatives globally and per country, their number of members/clients, turnover, employees and assets did not exist. As a result of leadership from the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, with support from Rabobank, the first ever Global Census on Cooperatives was completed in 2013-14. As its name suggests, the Census is a count of as many cooperatives, in as many countries as possible regardless of their sector or membership in regional/global associations. This is the first time that a broad-based database on cooperatives has been complied and data contained within it should be considered a start, not the definitive count.”

The Global Census on the Cooperative Economy was produced by http://www.davegraceassociates.com/

Global Census on Cooperatives

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.