MADISON, Wis. — More than 217-million people now belong to credit unions around the world, according to new data from the World Council of Credit Unions. Those members belong to 57,480 credit unions operating in 105 countries around the world, according to WOCCU’s 2014 Statistical Reprot.
According to WOCCU, the most notable global change since 2013 has been in membership growth, which grew by nearly 10-million new members. Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean area were the fastest-growing world regions in terms of credit union membership. Also in 2014, worldwide assets were reported at US$1.8 trillion; savings at US$1.5 trillion; loans at US$1.2 trillion and reserves at US$181 billion.
New countries reporting 2014 data included Albania, Iran and the Netherlands, WOCCU said.
"Membership growth is a priority for credit unions worldwide," said Brian Branch, World Council president and CEO. "Our vision, as a global community, is to reach 260 million members by the year 2020.”
The World Council reports data based on country responses to its annual survey and does not make estimates for non-reporting countries.
A copy of the report can be found in the CUToday.info Open Vault here.