The food and clothing sectors in different EU Member States, over the last 5 years

The overarching aim of this study is to provide a complete and detailed insight of the evolution of high-volume retailers (HVR) in the food and clothing sectors in different EU Member States, over the last 5 years.

The main conclusions from the analysis are the following. The number of HVR (firms with more than 5% market share) in the food sector is around 5 in each country. The combined market share of the top-5 firms (C5) in the food retail market varies significantly between countries. Germany and the UK are the most concentrated markets with over 70% of the market controlled by the largest five firms. The French market is also comparatively concentrated (C5 of 60%) whereas in Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic it is between 30% and 45%. Over the last three years, there have been significant increases in market concentration in the UK, the Czech Republic, Romania and Spain.