Global Powers of Retailing 2021
The aggregate retail revenue for the Global Powers of Retailing Top 250 companies reached US$4.85 trillion in FY2019 (up from US$4.74 trillion in the previous year). Growth increased to 4.4% (currency-adjusted composite year-over-year growth rate), higher than the previous year’s 4.1% growth.
Executive summary
In the early months of 2021, the world was faced with both promise and peril. On the positive side, the distribution of vaccines for COVID-19 was under way, offering the promise that the negative impact of the virus could abate significantly. On the negative side, the virus continued to threaten economic stability. Even in places where the outbreak was limited, there was a negative economic impact from social distancing measures to avoid a further outbreak. The challenge for policymakers was to control the outbreak, protect those who have been disrupted and speed up the distribution of vaccines. The success of these imperatives will determine the path of the global economy in the year ahead.
Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2021 reviews the global economic scenario and its impact on the retailing industry.
The report identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available data for FY2019 (fiscal years ended through 30 June 2020), and analyses their performance across geographies and product sectors. It also provides a global economic outlook, looks at the 50 fastest-growing retailers and highlights new entrants to the Top 250.
A new section in this year's report is a short preview of next year’s Global Powers of Retailing report—looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the retail revenue growth of the Top 25 global retailers in FY2020 (i.e. fiscal years ended through 30 June 2021).
Key findings from the report
- The aggregate retail revenue for the Global Powers of Retailing Top 250 companies was US$4.85 trillion in FY2019, with an average size of US$19.4 billion per company.
- The minimum revenue for a company to enter the Top 250 rankings is US$4.0 billion, up from US$3.9 billion in the previous year.
- The Top 10 list continued to be dominated by American companies, with seven of the ten companies being based in the United States.
- The world’s Top 10 retailers are more globally focussed, with operations on average in 13.0 countries versus 11.1 for the overall Top 250. However, their share of retail revenue from foreign operations fell to 25.5%, from 25.8% in the previous year, as several companies divested foreign subsidiaries.
- Europe has the highest number of Top 250 retailers, with 87 companies based in the region. North America has the highest share of Top 250 retail revenue (47.1%).
- Fast-moving consumer goods continues to be the largest product sector. Its 135 companies (54% of companies) generated 66% of the Top 250 retail revenue in FY2019.
- Nine of the 12 new entrants to the Top 250 in FY2019 are based in Asia Pacific.
- E-commerce and discounters drove high retail revenue growth among the Fastest 50 companies.
