The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center revealed that the number of citizens working in cooperatives in the state reached 638 by the end of 2024, accounting for 7.8% of the total number of workers in those cooperatives, which was 8,197 people. This marks the highest percentage since 2018. The Center, in its latest report on cooperatives in the state, based on data from the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, also indicated that the number of non-citizens working in 'cooperatives' at the end of last year reached 7,559 employees, constituting 92.2% of the total workforce in state cooperatives, both citizens and non-citizens. The statistics show that the percentage of Emiratis working in cooperatives has fluctuated. They constituted 5.3% of the total workforce at the end of 2018, then their percentage increased to 6% of the total workforce by the end of 2019, before slightly decreasing to 5.8% of the total at the end of 2020. The percentage of citizen workers in 'cooperatives' rose again to 6.2% in 2021, then to 7.4% by the end of 2022, before slightly decreasing to 7.3% at the end of 2023, before rising again to 7.8% by the end of 2024, making it the highest percentage since 2018. According to the statistics, the total number of cooperatives reached 40 cooperatives by the end of 2024, compared to 43 cooperatives in 2022. 'Consumer cooperatives' topped the list with 16, followed by 'fishermen's cooperatives' with 14, then 'consumer service cooperatives' with three, 'federated cooperatives' with two, and finally, one cooperative each for 'housing', 'rental', 'artisanal', 'service', and 'agricultural' cooperatives.
