The 21st Congress of ECCO in numbers
The 21st Congress of ECCO, Stockholm, Sweden – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2026, held on February 18-21, 2026, attracted a total number of 7,388 delegates from 99 different countries. Since the inaugural ECCO Congress in 2006 in Amsterdam, at which there were 350 delegates, participant numbers have steadily increased. We are pleased that such a high number of delegates were able to take part in the ECCO’26 Congress in Stockholm.
The pie chart below divides delegate attendance at the 21st Congress of ECCO by continent. Approximately 75% of all participants came from Europe and about 25% from outside of Europe.
The pie chart below shows the distribution of professions among participants at the 21st Congress of ECCO. The largest groups were gastroenterologists and industry representatives, each making up 24% of attendees. Clinical researchers accounted for 8%, followed by IBD nurses at 7%. Endoscopists, fellows/trainees, and scientists each represented 5% of participants. Pharmacists, surgeons, and other physicians each contributed 3%, while paediatricians made up 1%. The remaining approximately 10% of delegates included students, dietitians, research nurses, radiologists and psychologists.
High-quality Abstracts
A key component of the success of the ECCO Congress is the rising number of high-quality abstracts accepted for oral, digital oral and poster presentations. An outline of the evolution of abstract submissions is displayed here:
Industry exhibition
This year’s industry exhibition attracted 36 exhibitors, mainly pharmaceutical companies but also publishing houses and non-profit organisations. The total net exhibition area was 2,470 m2.
More statistic
More statistics and impressions of the 21st Congress of ECCO can be viewed online at https://ecco-ibd.eu/congress-events/congress-statistics
Furthermore, on-demand videos of the Scientific Programme are available until May 31, 2026 on the ECCO'26 Congress Platform for all registered delegates and will be available for ECCO Members in the e-Library on the e-Learning Platform: www.e-learning.ecco-ibd.eu later this year.
Availability of recordings and presentations is subject to the authorisation of the speakers.