 Italy has a strong cooperative sector, with the largest share of the population (4.5%) employed by a cooperative in the EU.According to the last national agricultural census, there were 1.6 million farms in 2010 (−32.4% since 2000) covering 12.7 million hectares (63% of which are located in Southern Italy).The vast majority (99%) are family-operated and small, averaging only 8 hectares in size.