Book page

Regional overview

Global Support Centre • 6 August 2024

Regional overview

 

Analysing the data from the 2022 Census gives us a snapshot of what Scouting looks like today, allowing WOSM to explore the composition of each Scout Region’s membership. This data supports our World and Regional Scout Committees to make informed decisions that are of most benefit to support Scouting in the region.

The following infographics provide an overview of a summary of the data for each WOSM Scout Region as of 31 December 2022. They outline the following 

  • Reported membership of the region
  • Ratio of adults to young people per region
  • Breakdown of membership by gender
  • Current growth rate of the region

  • Current market share in each region.  

     

    Regional trends

     

Whilst global trends serve as a good general indicator, the richness of diversity that is within WOSM requires a consideration of trends and their regional contexts. Below are the key trends identified by the analysis of census data by Region for the years 2014, 2017, 2021, and 2022:

Figure 5: Regional membership - Vision 2023 (Official census data) - Please use the arrows to navigate across the regional figures

 

Market share has increased in five WOSM regions except the Interamerican region: 

Figure 6: Pre- and post-pandemic market share in the WOSM Regions

 

During Vision 2023, the data on absolute growth indicates that whilst WOSM is growing overall, this increase in membership is not equally shared across all scout regions. Most members joined in the Asia-Pacific Region (+5 341 186 members), the Africa Region (+2 579 617 members), the Arab Scout region (+227 159 members), and the European region (+214 887 members).  

Figure 7: Membership change in absolute numbers by region (Official census data)

 

Absolute growth by Gender (Triennium 2021-2024):  

Table 1: Membership change by gender (Official census data)
Looking at the Triennium 2021-2024, the highest absolute growth is recorded in the Asia-Pacific region (+1 416 097 members), followed by the African region (+386 146 members), Interamerica Region (+311 363), European (+35 091), and the Arab region (+28 159 members). 

 

The Asia-Pacific Scout Region is home to 79% of the total membership of WOSM, growing from 75% in 2014. 

 

Key regional findings for membership trends

 

  

Key regional findings for membership trends 

 

During Triennium 2021-2024:

  • All regions recorded growth in Triennium 2021-2024. The Interamerica region had the highest relative growth in membership at 17.9%. The African region grew by 8.3%, followed by the Arab region (5.9%), the Asia-Pacific region (4.2%), and the European region (1.8%).  

 

During Vision 2023:

  • Four WOSM regions increased their membership in the Vision 2023 period 2014-2022. Highest relative increase is recorded in the Africa Region (+104%), the Arab Region (+81%), the Asia-Pacific Region (+17.7%) and the European Region (+12.4%). The Interamerican Region decreased in membership by 37.4%.  

  • The former Eurasia region decreased membership by 39.8% in the period 2014-2022.  

  • Four WOSM regions increased their market share in the period 2014-2022: Africa at +1.11%, Asia-Pacific at +0.59%, Arab at +0.18% and Europe at 0.16%. The market share of the Interamerica region decreased by 0.34%. 

  • In terms of absolute growth for the period 2014-2022, most members joined in the Asia-Pacific Region (+5 341 186 members), the Africa Region (+2 579 516 members), the Arab Scout region (+227 159 members), and the European region (+214 887 members).   

 

Key regional findings for youth and gender

 

Table 2: Growth of youth membership by gender during Vision 2023 and Triennium 2021-2024 (Official census data)
 

Key regional findings for youth and gender 

 

During Triennium 2021-2024:

  • the youth membership increased in all WOSM regions with an average rate of 6%. 

  • The highest absolute increase in absolute youth membership is recorded in the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 1.2 million young members, followed by the African region (355,980), the Interamerican region (129,310), the Arab region (28,120), and the European region (9,577). 

  • The highest relative increase in youth membership is recorded in the Interamerican region (+11%), followed by the African region (+8%), the Arab region (+6%), the Asia-Pacific region (+4%), and the European region (+1%). 

  • Most female youth members joined in the African region, where 193,820 female members joined. In terms of relative increase, the highest increase is recorded in the Interamerica region (+30%) 

 

During Vision 2023:

  • four WOSM regions significantly increased youth membership with an average of 41%.  

  • The highest absolute increase in youth membership is recorded in the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 4 million young members.  

  • Regarding relative growth, the highest increase in youth members is recorded in the African Region, where the youth membership doubled compared to the start of Vision 2023.  

  • The youth membership in the Interamerica region decreased by 1,495,423 members (-52%). 

  • All WOSM regions have increased the number of girls in the membership during Vision 2023:  

  • The highest absolute growth of girls is recorded in the African region, with more than 1.2 million girls joining since the start of Vision 2023 (+127%). 

  • The highest relative growth of girls is recorded in the Arab Region (+527%).  

  • The European region increased the number of girls by 122% (227,797), the Interamerican region by 39% (81,828) and the Asia Pacific region by 12% (1,318,616). 

 

Key regional findings for adult membership

 

Table 3: Growth of adult membership by gender during Vision 2023 and Triennium 2021-2024 (Official census data)

 

Key regional findings for adult membership 

 

  • The number of adults increased in all WOSM regions with an average rate of 10.2% during the Triennium 2021-2024 and 178% during Vision 2023. 

 

During the Triennium 2021-2024: 

  • in absolute terms, the highest increase of adults is seen in the Interamerica region (+ 182 278), followed by the Asia-Pacific region (+ 138,886), the European region (+24,790), and the African region (11,725). In the Arab region, the official records show a decrease of 21 adults.  

  • In relative terms, the Interamerica region increased the number of adults by 36%, followed by the Asia-Pacific region (+6%), the European region (+5%), and the African region (+4%) 

  • The highest number of female adults joined in the Interamerica region with a 46% (+84,029) increase compared to the start of the Triennium. In the Arab region, a decrease of 614 (-7%) was recorded during the Triennium.   

 

During Vision 2023: 

  • in absolute terms, the highest increase of adults is reported in the Asia-Pacific region (+ 1,288,907), followed by the European region (346 691), the African Region 249.083), the Interamerican region (275 817), and the Arab region (25,096).  

  • In relative terms, most adults joined the Movement in the Africa region (+373%), the European region (+182%), the Arab region (+153%), the Asia-Pacific region (+116%) and the Interamerican region (+46%). followed by the Asia-Pacific region (+ 138,886), the European region (+24,790), and the African region (11,725). In the Arab region, the official records show a decrease of 21 adults.  

  • In relative terms, the Interamerica region increased the number of adults by 36%, followed by the Asia-Pacific region (+6%), the European region (+5%), and the African region (+4%) 

  • The highest absolute increase in female adults is recorded in the Asia-Pacific region (+482,921), and the highest relative increase of female adults is reported in the Arab region (+593%).