This analytical article presents an attempt to identify the most important intra-reasons that prevent the further development of diversified cooperative economy in Russia. The authors consider one of them to be the washout of qualified workers from the staff of cooperative organizations and enterprises, the lack of full replenishment of human resources from the number of graduates of higher and secondary special educational institutions of consumer cooperation, there is a decrease in the quality of the human factor in consumer cooperation, which leads to miscalculations and errors in the activities of cooperative enterprises and organizations. The second internal factor, after the human one, is the property one. The third internal factor, which in fact undermines the very foundations of cooperative construction, is a significant weakening of organizational and mass work with shareholders. The fourth internal factor is the recent transformation of the cooperative trading network. The fifth factor is the imbalance between the proclaimed ideas, goals, slogans at the middle levels of government and their further real embodiment in the lower management level.

The article deals with the development of cooperation in different countries of the world. The analysis of the types of cooperatives, as well as the monitoring of cooperatives in the global agriculture and food industry, is carried out. The current issues of the development of the International Cooperative Alliance for the future are identified. An assessment of the development of individual cooperatives in Russia and Bulgaria is given. Cooperation is considered as the basis for the development of different economies of the world, and the twenty-first century is considered the century of cooperation.