Lidl has become the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket, with an 8.6 per cent market share and a growing store footprint.

The data, published by consumer insights firm Worldpanel by Numerator, also tracked an 8.8 per cent increase in Lidl sales in the 12 weeks to 17 May.

Lidl has benefited from consumers switching away from competitors over the past year, accruing £661 million in switching gains as more than 60 per cent of households now shop at Lidl.

Ryan McDonnell, chief executive of Lidl GB, said: “Becoming Great Britain’s fifth largest supermarket is a significant milestone and a clear indication of the momentum we have built. As customer expectations shift, households are looking for value they can rely on without compromising on quality, and we remain laser-focused on delivering exactly that.

“Achieving this is a testament to the dedication of our colleagues, whose hard work delivers for our customers every single day. As we move forward with our ambitious expansion plans, we’ll bring great value and quality products to even more communities across Great Britain.”

Since opening its first stores in 1994, Lidl GB has grown significantly, now purchasing two-thirds of its products from British suppliers and contributing £14.5 billion in gross value added to the economy in FY24.

The fastest growing brick-and-mortar retailer in the UK for the past 35 months, the firm now operates over 1,000 stores and 13 distribution centres across England, Scotland, and Wales and employs more than 35,000 workers.

In April, Lidl GB announced it would open 50 new stores across the country as part of a £600 million investment in British infrastructure. Later that month, it revealed plans to develop hundreds of locations across the UK into new stores.

The scale of Lidl’s growth, as well as that of its competitor Aldi, is at the centre of a public consultation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into whether each should be designated as large retailers when seeking to develop land into new stores.

Iceland and Sainsbury’s have both argued that the spread of Lidl and Aldi stores throughout the UK is “substantial” – one factor that could support Large Grocery Retailer (LGR) designation.

---