About fair trade

Fair trade - two words that strongly relate in the consumers’ minds to an alternative way of consuming that helps fight poverty and inequality. In economic terms fair trade is still small, but its supporter base across the world is huge and growing.

Some figures[i]

  • Five million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America benefit from fair trade.
  • 3,000 world shops and 55,000 supermarkets add up to more than 79,000 outlets for fair trade products in Europe.
  • More than 1,000 staff and 100,000 volunteers are involved in fair trade organizations in Europe.
  • A combined sales turnover of more than one billion euros a year (2005) and growth rates of between 20 and 30% per year since the beginning of the 21st century.


[i] Krier, Jean-Marie: Fair Trade in Europe 2005. Facts and Figures on Fair Trade in 25 European countries, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, December 2005.

Photo competition

Oikocredit has organised a photo competition entitled "How fair is your world?”. Are you interested in participating? Take a photograph of yourself or someone else to show us what fair financing and being a fair trade consumer means to you or them. Click here for more infomation.

Video

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