Co-op Membership vs Share Ownership

This short report from Co-operativesUK highlights just how many more people are co-op members than directly hold shares in stock exchange listed companies. This is hardly a surprise and does not take account of indirect ownership of shares in companies via pension funds and insurance policies. However, as the report points out, that indirect ownership gives no voice in the enterprise whereas co-operative membership does.

The comparative international table of co-op membership and direct share ownership as a percentage of the population is interesting. Who would have thought that co-op membership penetration would be 40% in the USA and only 21% in the UK? US credit unions, energy and telecoms co-ops explain that, as the report points out. Those co-ops are very big in the US while UK co-op membership is mainly in consumer co-ops.