At least 12% of people on earth is a cooperator of any of the 3 million cooperatives on earth. Cooperatives provide jobs or work opportunities to 10% of the employed population, and the three hundred largest cooperatives or mutuals generate 2,034.98 billion USD in turnover while providing the services and infrastructure society needs to thrive (World Cooperative Monitor).

Cooperatives are enterprises based on ethics, values, and principles.

Through self-help and empowerment, reinvesting in their communities and concern for the well-being of people and the world in which we live, cooperatives nurture a long-term vision for sustainable economic growth, social development and environmental responsibility.

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Cooperatives are not a marginal phenomenon

• More than 12% of humanity is part of any of the 3 million cooperatives in the world!
• The largest 300 cooperatives and mutuals report a total turnover of 2,034.98 billion USD, according to the World Cooperative Monitor (2019).
• Cooperatives contribute to the sustainable economic growth and stable, quality employment, employing 280 million people across the globe, in other words, 10% of the world’s employed population.

As member-owned, member-run and member-serving businesses, cooperatives empower people to collectively realise their economic aspirations, while strengthening their social and human capital and developing their communities.

The International Cooperative Alliance is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in the world today by the number of people it represents: more than 1 billion cooperative members from any of the 3 million cooperatives worldwide.