How are the Global Coworking Surveys and Coworking Trends Surveys conducted?

The Global Coworking Surveys and Coworking Trends Surveys are conducted online and distributed to coworking spaces and similar flexible workspaces worldwide or within specific regions. The participation is anonymous, with operators and staff members responding. For the Global Coworking Survey, space members and users, former members and users, former operators, and prospective operators are also invited to participate. Only responses from the intended target groups for each questionnaire are included, while others are excluded. The collected data undergo statistical analysis to ensure quality and deliver reliable insights into industry trends, behaviors, and preferences.

Are the results in this report representative of the market of coworking spaces or similar flexible workspaces as a whole?

It depends on your perspective. From a scientific view, no survey fully represents this market, similar to many other markets. Representative surveys need to 1) identify all spaces in the survey area, and 2) know how to contact them. While a random sample may suffice, it only works if 3) all selected companies or spaces respond. The vast majority of surveys, no matter the industry, topic or region, fail to meet all three of these criteria, particularly when the scope and number of potential respondents grow.

Some surveys weight their samples based on a few known characteristics from their survey area, but this is not the same as conducting a representative study. Weighting also involves challenges, particularly the need for a detailed, up-to-date database of all existing spaces for the characteristics that need to be weighted.

Since the market is dynamic—with new spaces opening, others closing, relocating, or changing models at any time—each new survey or census must rebuild the database from scratch. This requires constant, costly updates. Additionally, there is no legal definition or specific registration body for coworking or flexible workspaces. Therefore, a scientifically representative survey is unlikely to ever exist, especially across large regions amid ongoing market growth.

However, you can also broaden your perspective on representation, as there are many different viewpoints depending on what you're looking for.

There are informative reports and presentations from single operators, as well as summaries focused on specific areas like top players in major cities and a few key metrics. They can be helpful if you want to find inspiration from specific players or if you are particularly interested in data from these areas. However, some of them may face a conflict of interest when their results are used not as an independent product but as a marketing tool to promote their own services, which their findings are expected to support.

And then there is Deskmag’s annual independent survey, which covers hundreds of operators and locations across many regions, systematically analyzing specific groups and comparing them across a wide range of topics. And the results are the product, no matter what they say.

Now ask yourself regarding the question above: Which is more representative of the entire market? Without discounting the efforts of anyone informing about the market or parts of it, we believe our reports offer some of the most comprehensive, unbiased, and insightful perspectives available.

How are coworking spaces defined in the reports?

There is no legal definition of coworking spaces, and various operational models exist with fluid boundaries between coworking and other flexible workspace concepts. Cultural differences also influence how coworking spaces are perceived, and many spaces have evolved over time.

To reflect this diversity, the reports include workspace(s companies) that define themselves as "coworking spaces" or other types of "flexible workspaces". Please note that all surveys are distributed as coworking surveys, typically attracting respondents connected to the coworking industry. For clarity, the main business approach of workspaces is also recorded and presented in each specific report.

What do the survey results say and what do they not say?

The Global Coworking Survey and the Coworking Trends Survey are exploratory studies. The survey results provide a detailed picture of participating coworking and flexible workspace companies and what their locations look like and how they operate across many dimensions. In terms of the number of spaces surveyed, geographical reach, and breadth of questions asked, no other study offers such comprehensive, long-term insight into the landscape of coworking spaces (and the expanding presence of flexible workspaces that include or are inspired by coworking space models).

Unlike many other surveys, we also analyze the results by distinct groups, offering a deeper understanding of the diverse nature of coworking and flexible workspaces. The findings deliver valuable insights into these segments and can highlight differences, patterns, and potential correlations across various characteristics.

Important note on correlation and causation: We do not calculate correlation measures, as they are rarely of interest to a wider audience and potential correlations are better shown visually in the graphs. Much more importantly, any potential correlation found may suggest a possible link but does not explain the cause. Determining causation would require comparing identical groups that differ in only one characteristic, which is nearly impossible in a field study. Many factors influence outcomes, including broader societal and economic contexts beyond coworking and flexible workspaces, which most surveys cannot capture or include.

Aren't there too many national differences between countries to present global results?

No, not really. The country or continent of the respondents is just one of many criteria that can influence the results.

Although national differences indeed exist, there are more considerable differences among other criteria. For example, the regional differences within one country are often greater than the national differences between two countries. A coworking space in New York City is likely to have more in common with a coworking space in London, Berlin, or Bangkok than other coworking spaces along the Hudson River outside the metropolis.

In short, there are more enormous differences between small and big coworking spaces, between coworking spaces that operate one location or several locations, or between those that provide a high share of private offices or a high share of open workspaces, and so on… For this reason, the results provided are compared by these criteria and many more.

One major national difference complicates global comparisons: currency.

National currencies change in value relative to each other every second. Conversion to a comparable currency, such as the U.S. Dollar, the Euro, or any other currency, requires taking into account the exchange rate at the time the question was asked, which complicates analysis if the survey spans several weeks or even years.

In addition, exchange rates often do not directly consider the cost of living. They also continue to change after the survey is conducted, and readers would have to account for significant changes in a dimension that has nothing to do with the overall coworking market.

For this reason, we rarely collect data including currency values, except for the US, the Eurozone, and other major countries when possible. Instead, we collect relative values, which are easier to compare globally and over the long term.

What is the difference between “snapshot results” and “final results”?

Snapshot (or first) results cover a shorter timeframe and focus on overall trends while the survey is still running, providing the freshest data and timely insights into the current market situation.

Final results require more time for extensive data collection until the survey closes and apply additional quality criteria that exclude a small percentage of respondents who completed the survey multiple times or did not respond seriously (usually less than 1%). The analysis process is more thorough and time-consuming, but in return, final results deliver much more detailed group insights on each topic.

Measuring & Separating System:

We like and respect diversity. However, we needed to make the following decisions to avoid repeating "translations" on countless slides.

- Unless otherwise specified, results are presented using the metric system, such as square meters (e.g., 500 m²). Larger reports also include additional chart measurements in square feet.

- A dot is used as the decimal separator (e.g., 12.6 m²). In older reports, a comma was used, as it is more common in Europe. To avoid further confusion, we do not use dots or commas as thousands separators.

Why are the results often rounded?

What would a result of 46.8% tell you more than a result of 47%? Not much. Unrounded results give the impression of accuracy where there isn't any. We would rather say this result is about half in presentations or articles. However, having 1.6 or 2.4 members per desk makes a difference. These results are rounded to one decimal point.

Why does the sum of the results of a single-answer question sometimes differ from 100%?

Because of rounding, results are generally presented as whole numbers. For example, values like 50.5% and 49.5% are rounded to 51% and 50%, which may cause the total to appear as 101%. However, the true total remains 100%.

Please note that some questions allow multiple answers. In these cases, the total is not relevant because a respondent can select more than one option. As a result, the total percentage often exceeds 100%

Arithmetic mean, 5% trimmed mean, median ... Why are average values different?

Reducing a diverse distribution to a single value often does not accurately reflect an entire market. The values presented here are three of dozens of statistical measures, so we keep it simple.

The arithmetic mean is the most common average to report central tendencies. However, it is not robust if it is influenced by outliers, extreme cases that are much larger or smaller than most others. For example, consider an unequal distribution of private wealth, where 5% of the people in your country hold 50% of the country's wealth. If you took the arithmetic mean of those assets per person, the vast majority would see a huge gap between this value and the amount in their bank accounts. So, it would not reflect the reality for most people. The coworking space market is not that unequal yet. However, some coworking spaces (chains) can be identified as outliers and are much larger than most other coworking spaces. Therefore, we highlight the arithmetic mean when presenting limited (bounded) scales, such as scales from 0-100% or star ratings (1-10).

We prefer the 5% trimmed mean for open, unbounded scales. This value cuts out the highest and lowest 5% of cases, reflecting the average reality much better than the arithmetic mean in those cases. We can also eliminate typos if a respondent accidentally enters too many digits.

The median separates the upper half from the lower half. It is simply the value in the middle.

It is important to note that most of the statistics presented in the reports are grouped into bar charts, reflecting reality better than any average value.

Why are some survey results not included in the general results of the Global Coworking Survey or the Coworking Trends Survey over the years?

Not every question is included in every survey. Additionally, the inclusion of survey results depends on the region where the surveys were conducted. For example, the 2020 European Coworking Survey and the 2021-22 Coworking Trends Survey were conducted during the pandemic. These surveys were designed for rapid publication in a rapidly changing environment, resulting in fewer questions and response options.

Moreover, the survey designs differ: the Coworking Trends Survey targets coworking space businesses as a whole, whereas the Global Coworking Survey focuses on individual coworking space locations. Consequently, most questions are not directly comparable. Lastly, as indicated by its name, the 2020 European Coworking Survey was exclusively focused on Europe.

Why are 'n.a.' and '0' entries sometimes excluded?

This is a filtering method to exclude entries that either do not make sense, such as coworking spaces with a size of zero square meters, when an alternative response option was given, such as "don't know" or "other", or we exclude entries that the survey meant to categorize as "not available" with the code "-99", but used the code "0" instead. A higher percentage of "n.a." is shown next to the graphs in this report.

About specific topics:

What exactly does "number of inhabitants local to a coworking space" mean?

Participants responded, "How many people live in the city, town, or village where your coworking space is located?" It would be pretty long to write "number of inhabitants of the city, town or village where a coworking space is located"” so we shortened it.

What does 'staff members' exactly mean?

Because not everyone works as an employee, we use the term "staff members" for people who work for a workspace location. Their number includes founders and self-employed operators if they work for their workspace.

What does "requirement of independent coworking space profitability" exactly mean?

Many coworking spaces are still run as sideline businesses, some by operators with other jobs or businesses. Coworking spaces often don't need to be independently profitable in these cases. Instead, the operator's business can benefit from more customers and clients, increase revenue, use a larger office infrastructure, or reduce expenses by renting desks. In other cases, coworking spaces are operated as part of a larger business model, such as in hotels, to increase their other revenue streams.

The examples are numerous, but they often share the common factor that such coworking spaces do not have to be profitable on their own. This criterion is based on the question: "Is your *self-selected workspace term* required to be independently profitable in order to run your entire business successfully?" (Note: This question applies only to the Global Coworking Survey, which focuses on individual coworking space locations.)

What does "cross-profitability with other locations" exactly mean?

Coworking spaces that operate multiple locations may not be able to make a statement about the individual profitability of a single location for various reasons. Respondents representing coworking spaces with multiple locations answered: "Is the profitability linked to other locations you operate?". (Note: This question applies only to the Global Coworking Survey, which focuses on individual coworking space locations.)

What does "members present" exactly mean?

Not all members work in a coworking space every day. To get an average number of present members, we have asked: "And, on average, how many members physically work in your space per business day?"

For more explanations of specific questions, please refer to the reports you receive.

About the Survey Results

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