Partners to host webinar on World Cooperative Monitor 2025-Special Edition
There will be discussions on cooperative impact across key sectors such as agriculture, consumption, banking and insurance
KAMPALA, January 21, 2026 — The International Cooperative Alliance [ICA], together with EURICSE and ICETT, will host a webinar dedicated to the World Cooperative Monitor 2025 – Special Edition, marking the conclusion of the UN International Year of Cooperatives [IYC 2025].
The World Cooperative Monitor [WCM] is the leading global reference on the economic scale, scope and performance of the world’s largest cooperatives and mutuals. Produced annually by the ICA and EURICSE, with the support of the ICETT, the International Cooperative Entrepreneurship Think Tank, it provides robust and comparable data on the global cooperative movement through its Top 300 rankings and sectoral analysis. The 2025 edition also includes interviews to cooperatives leaders from the CM50, the Cooperative and Mutuals Leadership Circle.
The webinar to be hosted on January 27, 2026, will see officials present; the key findings and global trends from the WCM 2025; highlight concrete examples of cooperative impact across sectors and regions; strengthen the visibility of cooperatives in global policy, SDG, and social development debates; foster dialogue between cooperative leaders, policymakers, UN agencies, researchers, and development partners and; promote the World Cooperative Monitor as a strategic, evidence-based tool for advocacy, research, and policy engagement; and shed light on how the WCM could look in the next decade.
There will be discussions on cooperative impact across key sectors such as agriculture, consumption, banking and insurance with the topics presented by Manish Sanghani, Manager, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited [IFFCO], Paul Gerrard, Campaigns, Public Affairs and Policy Director, Co-operative Group, Vincent Marangu, Director, Co-operatives Banking Division, Cooperative Bank of Kenya, and María Eugenia Pérez Zea, President, Coomeva Cooperative Business Group [tbc] respectively.
The World Cooperative Monitor [WCM] is the leading global reference on the scale, scope, and economic performance of the largest cooperatives and mutuals worldwide. Produced annually by the ICA and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises [EURICSE], with the support of the International Cooperative Entrepreneurship Think Tank [ICETT], it is the only publication that systematically collects robust, comparable quantitative data on the global cooperative movement. For more than a decade, the WCM has documented the world’s largest cooperatives and mutuals through its Top 300 rankings and sectoral analyses, offering unparalleled insight into their economic weight, geographic reach, and contribution to inclusive and sustainable development.
The 2025 edition of the World Cooperative Monitor was released at a pivotal global moment, marking the conclusion of the UN IYC 2025 and following the Second World Social Summit in Doha. The Doha Political Declaration reaffirmed the central role of inclusive, democratic, and people-centred economic models in advancing social development and social justice, and explicitly recognised cooperatives and other Social and Solidarity Economy [SSE] actors as key partners in reducing inequalities, strengthening social cohesion, and delivering sustainable development outcomes.
Against this backdrop, the WCM 2025 provides compelling, evidence-based confirmation that large cooperative and mutual enterprises are not niche actors, but systemically important contributors to decent work, inclusive growth, economic resilience, and community wellbeing across all sectors of the economy. The findings underscore the continued relevance of the cooperative model in responding to today’s global challenges, while delivering shared value for members, workers, producers, and communities.
Why the World Cooperative Monitor matters
The World Cooperative Monitor demonstrates, clearly and credibly, that cooperatives and mutuals operate at a global economic scale. The top 300 cooperatives and mutuals alone generate a combined annual turnover of US$ 2.7 trillion, placing them on par with the world’s largest national economies. This figure represents only a fraction of the cooperative movement as a whole, which comprises more than three million cooperatives worldwide, engaging over one billion members. As such, the WCM offers a conservative but powerful snapshot of a much larger economic, social, and environmental footprint that remains under-recognised in mainstream policy and economic analysis.
For policymakers and development partners, the WCM provides authoritative evidence that cooperatives are credible, large-scale economic actors capable of advancing SDGs related to decent work, reduced inequalities, resilient economies, sustainable food systems, and inclusive value chains. For cooperative leaders, it functions as a strategic benchmarking and learning tool, informing decisions on growth, governance, and long- term impact.
Recognising both their scale and responsibility, the ICA launched the Cooperatives and Mutuals 50 [CM50] initiative for the leaders of the largest cooperatives and mutuals featured in the WCM to have a platform to work together. CM50 provides a collective leadership platform to move from evidence to action, enabling large cooperatives and mutuals to scale their impact deliberately and collaboratively. Its priority areas include building resilient economies, strengthening ethical and inclusive value chains, transforming food systems, investing in education, and promoting purposeful leadership.
ICETT complements this leadership agenda by documenting and disseminating concrete case studies and best practices, demonstrating how cooperative enterprises translate economic strength into tangible benefits for members, workers, producers, and communities. Together, the WCM, CM50, and ICETT form a coherent evidence-to-action ecosystem, supporting informed policymaking, stronger partnerships, and a more inclusive and people-centred global economy.
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