The Largest Retail Companies in Europe

The largest retailer in Europe is German discount store chain Schwarz Group, with $111.8 billion in retail revenue in fiscal year (FY) 2017. Schwarz is also the fifth-largest retail company in the world based on revenue, according to the "Global Powers of Retailing 2019." The annual report on retailers worldwide is produced by accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Here are the top 25 retailers in Europe, with their dominant operational format, rank among all retailers in the 250-company worldwide list, country of origin, and FY 2017 retail revenue, in billions.

1. Schwarz Group, discount store, 5, Germany, $111.8
2. Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, discount store, 8, Germany, $98.3¹
3. Tesco PLC, hypermarket/supercenter/superstore, 10, U.K., $74.0
4. Ahold Delhaize, supermarket, 11, Netherlands, $72.3²
5. Auchan Holding SA, hypermarket/supercenter/superstore, 16, France, $58.6²
6. Edeka Group, supermarket, 17, Germany, $57.5²
7. REWE Combine, supermarket, 19, Germany, $49.7²
8. Casino Guichard-Perrachon S.A., hypermarket/supercenter/superstore, 23, France, $42.6²
9. Centres Distributeurs E. Leclerc, hypermarket/supercenter/superstore, 25, France, $41.5^1,2
10. Metro AG, cash & carry/warehouse club, 26, Germany, $41.0²
11. IKEA Group, other speciality, 27, Netherlands, $37.4
12. J Sainsbury PLC, hypermarket/supercenter/superstore, 28, U.K., $36.6
13. LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton S.A., other specialty, 32, France, $33.3
14. Intermarché, supermarket, 33, France, $31.9^1,2
15. Inditex, S.A., apparel/footwear specialty, 35, Spain, $28.9²
16. Migros-Genossenschafts Bund, hypermarket/supercenter/superstore, 39, Switzerland, $24.5^1,2
17. Ceconomy AG, electronics specialty, 40, Germany, $24.4
18. Mercadona, S.A., supermarket, 41, Spain, $23.7
19. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, apparel/footwear specialty, 43, Sweden, $23.2²
20. Coop Group, supermarket, 44, Switzerland, $22.5^1,2
21. Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, supermarket, 45, U.K., $22.4
22. X5 Retail Group N.V., discount store, 47, Russia, $22.2
23. Système U, Centrale Nationale, supermarket, 48, France, $21.6^1,2
24. Groupe Adeo SA, home improvement, 49, France, $20.9^1,2
25. PJSC "Magnit," convenience/forecourt store, 51, Russia, $19.4

¹Estimated.
²Includes both wholesale and retail sales.

Methodology

The revenue figures excluded wholesale sales unless otherwise noted. Revenues for companies that are not required to report figures publicly were estimated. Each company's fiscal year ended, at the latest, in June 2018.

Revenues were converted to U.S. dollars using the average daily exchange rate for each company's fiscal year.

French hypermarket company Carrefour S.A. was excluded from the report at the company’s request.

Global Presence

European retailers were the most globally active among the top 250. Almost 42.3 percent of European companies' combined revenues was generated from foreign operations in FY2017, compared with 23.6 percent for the top 250 as a whole. Eighty-three percent of the European companies in the list operated internationally; the average number of countries in which they had a presence was 16 countries. French retailers were the most global, with a presence in 29 countries on average.

Fastest 50

The two Russian companies that made the list of top 25 European retailers, X5 Retail Group and PJSC "Magnit," as well as Ahold Delhaize and LVMH, were included in the report's ranking of the 50 fastest-growing retailers. This ranking was based on the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in retail revenues from FY 2012 to FY 2017.

X5 was the 18th-fastest-growing company, with a CAGR of 21.4 percent. The report said the revenue growth was partially due to the acquisition of stores from the Sedmov Kontinent and Monetka retail chains.

"Magnit" was the 20th-fastest-growing retailer, with a CAGR of 20.3 percent. Ahold Delhaize was 41st, with a CAGR of 13.8 percent. And LVMH was 48th, with a CAGR of 11.8 percent.