An international workshop held in Bordeaux, France, from October 29–30, 2025, brought together 35 experts from five regions to strengthen global standards for statistics on cooperatives and the wider social and solidarity economy (SSE). Organized jointly by the COPAC Technical Working Group on Measuring the Economic Contribution of Cooperatives (TWG-MECC) and the UNTFSSE Technical Working Group on Social and Solidarity Economy Statistics (TWG-SSES), the event gathered representatives from international organizations, national statistical offices, governments, research institutions, and workers’ organizations. The meeting underscored the importance of building inclusive statistical frameworks that accurately reflect the contributions of cooperatives and SSE entities across diverse regional and national contexts.
The workshop aimed to deepen shared understanding among experts, clarify key issues, and chart the next steps in developing global statistical standards for cooperatives and SSE. Discussions focused on how to define and measure these entities effectively, ensuring both international comparability and local relevance. Participants highlighted the importance of recognizing cooperatives’ and SSE’s economic roles in global systems, emphasizing that consistent data and definitions would help make their contributions more visible and valued within the global economy.
Experts from the UNTFSSE TWG-SSES explored how to translate SSE principles into measurable statistical criteria and create a typology flexible enough to capture national differences while ensuring global alignment. Meanwhile, the COPAC TWG-MECC examined indicators to better reflect cooperatives’ economic impact—such as member transactions, surplus allocation, and volunteer labour—and stressed the need to adapt national statistical systems to more accurately account for cooperative activities.
Country case studies from Portugal and Poland showcased successful integration of SSE satellite accounts into national statistics, demonstrating how such inclusion enhances recognition of the sector’s economic and social importance. Presentations from Latin America and discussions on the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) standard-setting processes further informed participants on the path toward international harmonization.
The outcomes from the Bordeaux workshop will serve as a foundation for developing international guidelines and tools for measuring the economic contributions of cooperatives and SSE. Insights gathered will inform the preparation of a new manual on cooperative statistics and statistical guidelines on SSE, to be presented at the 22nd ICLS in 2028. The event marked an important step toward establishing global standards that ensure cooperatives and SSE entities are fully represented in official statistics, moving from conceptual recognition to measurable reality through collaboration among experts and institutions worldwide.
