Scale
At the end of September 2020, the British credit union sector had:
- Around 240 credit unions across England, Scotland and Wales employing more than 1,600 staff
- 1,355,630 people using credit unions, including 116,502 junior depositors
- Total assets of £1.95 billion
- Total loans of £1 billion
- Total deposits of £1.68 billion
- Annual turnover of £135 million
Source: Bank of England Credit Union Annual Statistics 2020
Growth
In the year to September 2020, the above figures changed
- Membership by -2.8%
- Assets by +12.2%
- Loans by -2.3%
- Deposits by +13.6%
- Turnover by +3.8%
Source: Bank of England Credit Union Annual Statistics 2020
In the decade from 2011 to 2020, the sector:
- Increased in membership and loans by 41% and 71% respectively
- Increased in deposits and assets by 135% and 127% respectively
Source: Bank of England Credit Union Annual Statistics 2020 and ABCUL
Note: Annual figures are not available until July the year after.
International
While credit unions in Britain remain relatively small, internationally there are:
- Active credit union sectors in 118 countries with 86,055 credit unions
- More than 291 million credit union members
- Assets of over $2.6 trillion
- Loans of over $1.8 trillion
- Deposits of over $2.1 trillion
High penetration rates in many developed countries:
- 56% in USA
- 42% in Canada
- 32% in Australia
Source: WOCCU Statistical Report 2019
WOCCU’s full annual statistical report is available here.