Lidl retained its position as Romania's leading food retailer by revenue in 2023, a position it has held since 2020. The company reported growth of 17.6%, above the inflation rate, to reach RON 21.7 billion (€4.4 billion).
According to an analysis by the online portal Economica, based on the financial results published by the Ministry of Finance, the German discounter generated a net profit of over RON 1.07 billion (€215 million), or 2.2% above the level of the previous year.
Another Schwarz Group chain, Kaufland, followed closely behind with a 14.5% turnover increase to RON 18.3 billion (€3.7 billion) and net profit of RON 884.3 million (€177.7 million), an annual decline of 2.1%.
Carrefour placed third with total revenue amounting to RON 17.5 billion (€3.5 billion), up 19% year on year – a figure that includes the Cora hypermarkets and convenience stores, acquired by the French group in late 2023.
Other Top Performers
Profi Rom Food came in fourth with a 10.8% increase in revenue to RON 12.9 billion (€2.6 billion), despite reducing the net loss by 25.5% to RON 213 million (€43 million).
Metro Cash & Carry took the fifth place in 2023, exceeding RON 10 billion (€2 billion) in revenue after a 12.6% jump, while net profit was 7.8% higher at RON 41 million (€8.2 million).
Mega Image ranked sixth with a 13.4% increase in revenue to RON 9.8 billion (€2 billion) and a profit increase of 56.5% to RON 218.6 million (€43.9 million).
Penny Market, operated by REWE Romania, placed seventh with 16% revenue growth to RON 8.3 billion (€1.7 billion), while France’s Auchan saw a more modest 4.5% revenue growth to RON 7.2 billion (€1.4 billion) to rank eighth.
Rounding off the top ten were local cash-and-carry retailer Selgros with a turnover of RON 4.4 billion (€884 million, up 5.1%), and Romanian supermarket chain La Cocoș with RON 974.3 million (€195.8 million), or a growth of 36.5%.
Eight of the top ten retailers generated revenues above the annual inflation rate of 10.4% in 2023.
