The Global Powers of Retailing list, published by professional services firm Deloitte, identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available data for FY2015, and includes the top five biggest South African companies.

The financial results encompass companies’ fiscal years ended through June 2016, and Deloitte analyzes a company’s performance across geographies, sectors, and channels.

Although the global economy struggled to gain momentum, the top 250 retailers achieved profitable growth in FY2015, generating aggregate retail revenues of $4.31 trillion and resulting in an average size of $17.2 billion per company.

Retail revenue increased for more than three-quarters of the world’s 250 largest retailers (192 companies), resulting in a currency-adjusted composite growth rate of 5.2%.

The world’s biggest retailers

Five South African retailers made the cut into the global 250, with Steinhoff International, a manufacturer and retailer of mostly furniture and household goods, showing good growth  – up to 72nd on the list, from 101st in the 2016 list.

The group operates in 29 countries, and owns Pepkor and JD Group – two big retailers in South Africa.

Shoprite Holdings is the second biggest retail brand in the country, ranked 110th (105th in 2016), while Spar Group overtook  Pick n Pay, climbing from 180th to 155th. Pick n Pay, meanwhile dropped 10 places, from 161st previously.

Woolworths Holdings also slipped 10 places on the list, to 197th.

According to Deloitte’s report, retailing in the Africa/Middle East region is on a high-growth path. “The rising middle class in Africa has contributed to the modernization of the retailing sector, and many African economies are transitioning toward consumption-driven markets,” the report said.

Together, the Africa/Middle East region’s 19.1% growth rate and 5.8% net profit margin were the highest among the five geographic regions in FY2015.

Top 250 retailers based in the region have a large geographic footprint. All nine companies operated internationally in FY2015 in an average of 11.3 countries. They generated more than one-third of their combined retail revenue outside their home countries, Deloitte said.

South Africa’s biggest retailers

Deloitte also provided a look at the world’s 50 fastest-growing retailers. Here Steinhoff  ranked as the 6th fastest growing global retailer, with a 44.5% compound annual growth rate between 2010 and 2015.