Lidl has overtaken Morrisons to become the fifth largest grocer in Great Britain as its sales were powered ahead by households seeking to keep a lid on their weekly bills.
The German-owned discounter increased its sales by 8.8% year on year – making it the fastest-growing store-based grocer – to hit a record high market share of 8.6% over the 12 weeks to 17 May, according to figures from the market analysts Worldpanel by Numerator. That compared with an 8.3% share for Morrisons in the period as the Bradford-based chain grew its sales by only 1.3% compared with a year earlier.
Twenty-five years ago, Lidl accounted for only 1.4% of the grocery market, behind long-gone names such as Safeway, Somerfield and Kwik Save. Since then it has rapidly opened stores and broadened its appeal to become more of a weekly shopping destination.
Since establishing itself in the UK in 1994, Lidl GB has now reached 1,000 stores and 13 distribution centres, employing 35,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales. In the year to February 2025, sales rose 8.3% to £11.7bn at Lidl GB and profits more than doubled to £156.8m.
In April, Lidl pledged to open 50 UK stores in the year ahead and to invest more than £600m in expansion in the country.
Lidl now sits behind the fellow German-owned discounter Aldi, which is the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket. Aldi is now less than one percentage point behind struggling Asda, where sales continue to fall back despite efforts at a turnaround.
Aldi and Lidl have grown rapidly, partly helped by poor performance at Asda and Morrisons since both were taken over in debt-fuelled private equity deals.
However, Aldi’s growth has slowed recently as Tesco and Sainsbury’s – the UK’s first and second largest chains respectively – have fought back with loyalty schemes and ranges that match Aldi on price.
Ryan McDonnell, the 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.”
The rise of the discounters comes as households turn to the budget chains and seek out promotions as a way to offset inflation on food and energy bills.
Like-for-like grocery prices rose 3.1% in the four weeks to 17 May, but this marked the slowest pace of inflation since December 2024 as supermarkets offered discounts to try to tempt households to spend, Worldpanel reported.
Shoppers snapped up promotions to keep costs down, with spending on promoted items up 9.5% year on year, while full-price spending was virtually flat, growing by only 0.1%.
Fraser McKevitt, the head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: “The easing in the rate of inflation is welcome news for shoppers who have been grappling with warnings of a hike in food prices due to the impact of the war in the Middle East.”