According to the World Council of Credit Unions' 2011Statistical Report, credit unions worldwide added 8 million newmembers in 2011, bringing the total number of credit union membersto 196 million in 100 reporting countries, the Madison, Wis.-basedWorld Council announced.

This represents growth of 4.3% from the 188 million totalmembers reported in 2010, the World Council said.

The total number of credit unions fell 3.5%, from 52,945 in 2010to 51,103 in 2011, indicating a global trend of smaller creditunions merging into larger ones, said Brian Branch, president/CEOfor the World Council.

“In countries around the world, smaller credit unions aremerging to realize greater economies of scale and developcapabilities to deliver more services to members,” Branch said.“The dramatic upturn in the number of members shows that creditunions are becoming more influential, and consumers are findingthem to be better alternatives than many for-profit financialinstitutions.”

From 2010 to 2011, the World Council also found an increase incredit union loans from $960 billion to $1 trillion, a jump incredit union reserves from $131.7 billion to $141.3 billion, anuptick in assets from $1.5 trillion to $1.6 trillion, and anincrease in member penetration from 7.5% to 7.8%. Savings volumetrickled slightly from $1.23 trillion to $1.22 trillion.

The World Council has collected data on the internationalcredit union movement for 40 consecutive years and bases reportresults on country responses to its annual survey.