By The Numbers: World’s Largest Food Retailers

Out of the 250 largest food retailers in the world, more than 30% are based in the U.S. (2012 Global Powers of the Retailing report)
The global food retail market grew by 5.9% in 2011 to $5.4 trillion

Much higher annual rates of growth will be realized in the future in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (the BRIC countries)

With annual sales of $914 billion in 2011, China already surpassed the U.S.(annual sales $887 billion in 2011) as the world’s largest food and grocery retail market (IGD market research)
Walmart is the world’s largest grocery retailer with sales expanding 11.5% per year, and total sales of $446 billion in 2011. With over 4,500 stores, Walmart has a presence in 15 countries, including China, and employs over 2 million workers around the world. Despite its Goliath presence in the world’s retail market and its revenue larger than many countries' GDP, Walmart remains the most notorious anti-union employer.

Carrefour, an international hypermarket chain headquartered in France is the second largest retail group in the world in terms of revenue, $149 billion in 2011. With over 15,000 stores across 33 countries, Carrefour employs over 471,000 employees.

TESCO, the third largest retail group in the world with total sales $104 billion in 2011, is based in the UK. Tesco operates over 6,000 stores in 13 countries in Europe, Asia and North America, and employs over 500,000 workers.

METRO Group, based in Germany, is the fourth largest retail group in the world with total sales $102 billion in 2011. Metro Group operates over 2,000 stores in 33 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa and employs over 280,000 workers.

AEON, a Japanese based retail chain, operates over 12,000 stores in 12 countries mainly across Asia. The fifth largest food retail in the world with sales $95 billion in 2011, AEON employs over 10,000 workers.

Source: 2012 Global Powers of the Retailing report; Food Retail World