some Fair Trade facts
I have gathered here some Fair Trade facts and figures which may help you have a global picture of our movement.
Most of them have been drawn from the
most important NGOs websites, reports and books. If you want to learn more or just get flooded with
numbers 
, try reading some of
these Fair Trade references; they contain plenty more
facts.
Trying to make raw numbers a bit readable, I have grouped them in two categories: people- and money-related.
people has the power
According to data from October 2006, more than 1 million producers were involved in Fair Trade production, with some 5 million people benefiting indirectly from it; this number has raised to 7,5 million people in 2007.
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| source of data: FLO |
On that same date, there were more than 200 importers of Fair Trade items, only in Europe.
Along the past years, the number of FLO certified organizations has increased constantly, as shown in the chart to the left; these organizations now span through 57 countries.
As to volunteers, there were about 100.000 of us by the end of 2006, only in Europe.
This number of volunteers may have an impact on Fairtrade brand recognition. A study in the UK has found in May 2008 that 70% of UK adults are able to recognize the Fairtrade label, and 64% of them associate that with a better deal for producers. 2007 score was 57%, so there has been a good improvement.
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| source: TransFair USA |
The graphic on the right shows brand recognition in the USA, which is still somehow lower... Bear in mind that the UK is a leading country regarding Fair Trade: they have the largest number of Fairtrade towns and the first Fair Trade country: Wales.
... but money matters
By early 2007 there were around 3.000 world shops in Europe; additionally, some 55.000 supermarkets also sold Fairtrade labelled goods; mainly packaged food like coffee or chocolate ... not without controversy.
Expenditure in Fair Trade promotion, advocacy, education and campaigns throughout 2005 was 18 million euros, again, only in Europe.
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| source of data: FLO |
On average, producers are able to sell only 20% of their output through Fair Trade channels; the rest of it still goes to the ordinary market... so we need to buy more!
During 2007, worldwide sales reached 2.3 billion euros, as shown, with a 42% increase from previous year figure.
A curious data: in 2006, Ten Thousand Villages NGO revenue was 20 million USD, and their average transaction amount grew from from 33,50 to 36,00 USD.
Well, finally, regarding product prices, please be informed that in 2004, Fair Trade Premium for coffee was 0,10 euros per kilogram; in 2006 it was 0,10 US$ per pound, i.e. roughly twice. Also, it is worth mentioning that more than 60 % of Fair Trade stuff is sold in Europe; more than 40 % of it is produced in Asia.
Well, these Fair Trade facts picture a quite nice future for our just and global movement.
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