Discount Retail Chain Lidl, the prominent discount retail chain, alongside its sister company Kaufland, drove their parent company, the German retail powerhouse Schwarz Group, to a total revenue of €185.6 billion for the 2025 financial year. This marks a solid 5.8% year-on-year growth compared to the €175.4 billion recorded in 2024.
Despite navigating ongoing geopolitical and economic crises, the group successfully expanded its global footprint by opening 300 new brick-and-mortar locations, bringing its global total to 14,500 stores across 33 countries. This rapid expansion also generated 9,000 new jobs worldwide, bumping the total workforce to 604,000 employees.
Core Retail Performance Breakdown
Lidl (Brick-and-Mortar): Reached €140.2 billion (up 6.1%). It dominates the group with 12,900 stores, including 3,250 in Germany and roughly 950 in Poland.
Kaufland (Brick-and-Mortar): Reached €36.7 billion (up 4.3%). It operates 1,600 stores, with 790 in Germany and about 260 in Poland.
E-Commerce: Joint online sales plateaued at €1.7 billion, matching the previous year’s performance. However, Kaufland continues digital expansion, recently launching its marketplace in Italy, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.
Growth in Non-Retail Divisions
The Schwarz Group’s ecosystem extends far beyond traditional supermarkets, with alternative divisions posting significant growth:
Division
Focus Area
2025 Revenue
Y-o-Y Growth
Key Updates
Schwarz Produktion
In-house manufacturing (bakery, beverages, etc.)
€5.7 billion
+23.9%
Acquired jam/honey maker Göbber; invested €300M in the Bonback industrial bakery.
PreZero
Environmental & circular economy
€4.1 billion
+5.1%
Entered battery recycling (via RE.LION.BAT) and end-of-life vehicle disposal.
Schwarz Digits
IT, cloud solutions, and digital infrastructure
€2.2 billion
+15.8%
Expanding STACKIT cloud to compete as a European alternative to AWS and Microsoft.
Future Outlook: Where Will the Billions Be Spent?
After allocating €9 billion to investments last year—which included upgrading Lidl’s cargo shipping fleet (Tailwind) to secure Asia-Europe supply chains—the Schwarz Group is accelerating its spending.
For the 2026 financial year, the investment budget will exceed €10 billion.
The funding will be heavily prioritized as follows:
Domestic Focus: Roughly €5 billion (half of the total budget) will be invested directly back into Germany, reinforcing the group’s home market and adding 5,000 domestic jobs.
Core Retail Expansion: Funding the continued rollout of new stores and modernizing existing locations to capture more market share.
Digital Sovereignty: Heavy investments are earmarked for digital infrastructure, notably a massive, 200-megawatt data center in Lübbenau, Germany, to bolster their sovereign European cloud services.
“We are strengthening the future viability of our ecosystem through targeted investments and strategic partnerships,” says CEO Gerd Chrzanowski. “We take responsibility for Germany as a business location and do our part for a strong, sovereign Europe.”
Core Retail Performance Breakdown Growth in Non-Retail Divisions Division Focus Area 2025 Revenue Y-o-Y Growth