A coworking space can differ widely from location to location, for example, one space may be a floor of high rise building and another could be an entire repurposed warehouse. Worldwide there were around 18,700 coworking spaces in operation in 2018. This figure has risen from just three locations 14 years previous in 2005, and is predicted to reach 22,400 by the year 2019. In 2019, the region with the most coworking spaces was Asia Pacific (including India), with 11,592 spaces, followed by Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with 6,850 spaces.
In the U.S., the two largest companies in terms of space leased were Regus and WeWork. Regus was by far the largest, with 9.4 million square feet of office space leased throughout the United States. WeWork, although larger than other companies, was somewhat smaller than Regus, leasing approximately 6.5 million square feet.
Founded in 1989 in Europe, Regus now operates in over 120 countries and 900 cities. The company offers a range of work spaces such as virtual offices, meeting facilities, corking spaces, day offices and business centers. The startup company WeWork, on the other hand, was founded in 2010 in the United States. Its primary focus is on coworking spaces with the aim to create a community atmosphere in their company. The firm operates primarily the U.S. but is expanding globally, with 11 international locations.
