World’s top 10 retailers

How many are from China? 0. Asia? 0. In fact, 5 are from the United States and 5 from West Europe, according to the latest figures from Deloitte for the 2014-15 financial year.

At almost $500 billion, Wal-Mart’s sales are more than 3 times the level of its nearest rivals. In 4th place, Lidl is the only European retailer to exceed $100 billion.

WORLD TOP 10 RETAILERS 2014-15

It’s worth noting that Amazon came 12th with sales of $70 billion and growth of 26%.

I was puzzled by the absence of China’s Alibaba. Its 4th quarter 2015 sales alone were up 32% to $149 billion.