The co-operative economy continues to have an outsized impact on the UK economy, delivering good jobs and growth across the country. New statistics from the Co-operative & Mutual Economy 2025 Report from Co-operatives UK demonstrates the importance of the co-operative economy to sectors and communities. The report reveals a gross-value added seven times larger than its share of the business population. Combined, the co-operative and mutual economy is currently worth a record breaking £179.2 billion – generated by over 10,000 enterprises and employing 1.6 million people.

The Report revealed several areas of significant growth – particularly in the number of employee owned businesses and community pubs. Employee owned business numbers have trebled over the last five years, including an increase of 31% alone in 2024. This exponential growth is underpinned by the Employee-Owned Trust (EOT) model, which provides tax incentives to boost growth. Introducing the same tax incentives for worker co-operatives would continue the reinvigoration of the model, which has returned to growth in 2025. Community pubs are another success story – with community owned pubs increasing by 51% over the last five years – bucking the trends seen in the rest of the pub sector.

The Report reveals the wider benefits of the co-operative and mutual model which sets it apart from other forms of business. Co-operatives are more resilient than other business models, with higher survival rates. Co-operatives are more likely to be led by women, with smaller gender pay gaps. And they are far more likely to be accredited as Living Wage Employers – meaning good work and decent pay for workers across the country.

While the co-operative and mutual economy punches above its weight in terms of gross value added, there is more that needs to be done to reach the goal of doubling the size of the sector. Increasing the growth rate of new co-operatives will require improving the legislative and regulatory systems to support growth and diversification. Increasing access to finance and tailored business support would be a game changer in enabling the British co-operative sector to grow towards the size of international peers, such as Germany and France.

The Co-operative Party is committed to achieving the doubling of the size of the co-operative sector and will continue to support Government in its ambitions for the co-operative movement. With the first steps in place as a result of the establishment of the Mutual & Co-operative Business Council and the upcoming command paper, the opportunities for growth in all economic sectors are stronger than ever.