WOCCU Releases Most Comprehensive Statistical Report to Date

MADISON, Wis.—World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) on Tuesday released its 2024 Statistical Report, which shows modest gains in both credit union membership and assets, and features the most comprehensive data set in the history of the annual publication—with statistics on everything from demographics to regulatory supervision.

As of December 31, 2024, there were 412,681,905 members of 67,137 credit unions that held more than $3.8 trillion in total assets across 101 countries.

The totals represent increases of just 0.4% in membership and 2% in assets from a year earlier, with a significant drop of 10% in the number of credit unions worldwide.

Thomas Belekevich, WOCCU Director of Member Services, who surveyed members and gathered the data for this year’s report, cautions that while the numbers may suggest only limited growth, they don’t give the full picture on their own.

“What we’re seeing is really less of a ceiling and more of a reflection of how we’re improving our data collection,” said Belekevich. “Over the years, WOCCU has placed a greater emphasis on tightening our methodology to ensure the numbers that we’re publishing are verifiable and consistent across countries. And so, that means we’ve been more vigorous in identifying reliable data sources, and sometimes that means leaving out figures that can’t be substantiated.”

That tighter methodology is part of a new Global Data Initiative spearheaded by WOCCU, in coordination with TruStage and the African Confederation of Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA).

“We are truly delighted with this purposeful and meaningful collaboration. The TruStage team has been superb in implementing ideas, and we deeply appreciate the energy and commitment from all sides,” said George Ombado, Executive Director of ACCOSCA.

An expanded data set for 2024

To provide a more complete statistical overview of our global movement, WOCCU expanded its survey for 2024 to also collect data on credit union:

• global trends.
• demographics
• regulatory supervision
• strategic priorities.
• risk concerns.

One major global trend that has been persistent over the last few years is credit union consolidation, with mergers and acquisitions reducing the number of credit unions to below 70,000 worldwide for the first time since 2016.

Along with demographic information on youth and women in credit unions, the 2024 Statistical Report also features data on credit union membership by level of income and workforce segments—showing professional and self-employed individuals are more likely to be credit union members than unskilled laborers.

Other noteworthy data from this year’s report shows:

• Only 14% of respondents across all countries indicated that their credit unions are regulated by a credit-union–specific supervisory authority.
• Regulation is cited as the greatest risk and regulatory reform as the top strategic priority worldwide.
• 40% of credit union systems are not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme of any kind.

World Council of Credit Unions reports data based on country responses to its annual survey and does not make estimates for non-reporting countries.

The Statistical Report provides the most comprehensive data on the global credit union movement available and is cited widely by governments, international institutions and analysts as an expert resource.

You can view the full 2024 Statistical Report here.

World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is the apex association for credit unions and other global financial cooperatives. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.

World Council has implemented 300+ technical assistance programs in 90 countries. Worldwide, 74,634 credit unions in 104 countries serve 411 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.

Contact: Greg Neumann
Organization: World Council of Credit Unions
E-mail: gneumann@woccu.org
Phone: +1 608-395-2048

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