The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched two technical working groups on statistics of co-operatives and the broader social and solidarity economy (SSE) to improve their visibility and impact.
The first group will focus on measuring the economic contribution of co-ops (TWG MECC) and form part of the Committee for the Promotion of Cooperatives, of which the ILO is a member.
The second group will dedicate itself to SSE statistics (TWG SSES) and will be affiliated with the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE).
The two groups have around 30 members and aim to refine and advance co-op statistics and lay the methodological groundwork for SSE statistics, with the ILO looking to address the need for internationally agreed standards.
While the 2018 adoption of the Guidelines on Statistics of Cooperatives at the International Conference of Labour Statisticians marked an important milestone, the ILO says many challenges are yet to be addressed.
In 2022, the ILO adopted a Resolution on Decent Work and the SSE, which includes a shared definition for the SSE, and was reaffirmed by the UN in 2023.
Held on 12 March, the official launch of the technical working groups heard from Nawon Lee, ILO technical specialist, who said: “This collaborative initiative comes during the second UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025, with heightened attention to standardising statistical approaches to co-operatives and the wider SSE.”
Simel Esim, the head of the ILO’s COOP/SSE Unit and chair of the UNTFSSE, also spoke at the launch, highlighting the ILO’s work on this issue since the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2013.
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“We look forward to working together, learning from each other, and advancing this critical agenda in the months and years ahead,” she said, emphasising the importance of having a shared collaborative vision for progress.
David Hunter, from StatClass Consulting Services, and Marie J. Bouchard, professor emerita at Université du Québec à Montréal, highlighted the need for improved data quality, enhanced methodological frameworks, and innovative statistical techniques – such as data triangulation and integrated micro-macro analysis – to overcome longstanding obstacles.
And Hyungsik Eum, ILO consultant on co-operative and SSE statistics, said the technical working groups would pave the way for informed policymaking and sustainable economic development.
The group’s discussions will contribute to the development of a statistical manual on co-ops and guidelines on SSE statistics, to be presented at the 22nd International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in 2028, Eum added.
The groups will meet again later this month.
