VS Series
Aldi v Lidl
Germany's two discounters took on the big four. Which one keeps more of the till?
Aldi leads on turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin and net assets; Lidl on growth. Aldi is the biggest by turnover at £19,033m, against £12,998m at Lidl. Aldi keeps more of every £100 it takes, £2.10 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Aldi files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Lidl files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Aldi to Dec 2025 · Lidl to Feb 2026
Who they are
Aldi
Aldi Stores Limited · 02321869Aldi is a discount supermarket chain selling groceries and household goods, most of them under its own labels.In brief: discount supermarket · mostly own-label range · company-run stores · part of Aldi SüdFull profile →Lidl
Lidl Great Britain Limited · 02816429Lidl GB runs Lidl discount supermarkets across Great Britain, selling groceries and household goods at low prices.In brief: discount supermarket · mostly own-label · company-run stores · part of Schwarz GroupFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
The Takeaway
- Aldi converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £2.10 reaches pre-tax profit, against £1.58 at Lidl.
- Aldi is the largest on the top line, £19,033m of turnover, 1.5x Lidl's £12,998m.
- Lidl is growing fastest, turnover +10.8% on its own prior year.
- Aldi is the biggest employer with 49,661 people; Aldi pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £34,000.
- Aldi has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £3,659m, while Lidl holds the most cash at £192m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Aldi keeps the most: £2.10 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Lidl keeps the least, £1.58.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Aldi (£19,033m), Lidl (£12,998m).
By headcount, Aldi leads with 49,661 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 2 months of each other. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Lidl grew fastest, turnover +10.8% on its own prior year, ahead of Aldi (+5.0%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Aldi employs the most, 49,661 people, against 35,086 at Lidl.
Aldi has the highest average staff cost, about £34,000 a head; Lidl the lowest, about £32,000.
Aldi brings in the most turnover per employee, about £383,000, against £370,000 at Lidl. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 5 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Aldi →
Lidl Great Britain Limited · 02816429No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 31 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Lidl →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Aldi | Lidl |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | ALDI STORES LIMITED | LIDL GREAT BRITAIN LIMITED |
| Company number | 02321869 | 02816429 |
| Incorporated | 1988 | 1993 |
| Accounts filed | 1 October 2026 | 13 October 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £18,125m | £11,733m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £416m | £157m |
| Staff costs | £1,668m | £1,121m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 8.8% | 8.6% |
| Employees, prior year | 50,655 | 34,697 |
| Dividends paid | £250m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 5 | 31 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Aldi v Lidl: common questions
Who is the biggest of Aldi or Lidl?
Aldi, with turnover of £19,033m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Aldi: £400m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Aldi, with 49,661 employees in its latest accounts.
Aldi or Lidl: which is bigger?
Aldi, with turnover of £19,033m against £12,998m at Lidl on their latest filings. On margin, Aldi keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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