It is not just the British high street that has seen the rise of discount retailers, such as Aldi and Lidl. A report by Deloitte shows the discounters have penetrated the highest echelons of the world’s retailers.

Schwarz, the owner of Lidl, moved three places to Number 7 in a list of the world’s biggest retailers, while Aldi broke into the top 10 for the first time.

Wal-Mart, the owner of Asda, remains top of the list, while Tesco remains Britain’s only representative, at Number 3.

IGD, the consultancy, recently forecast that Tesco would overtake Carrefour to take the Number 2 slot in the next five years. In the top 10, only Scwarz has grown at a faster pace than Tesco, which is currently building its Fresh & Easy franchise in California.

While analysts expect Tesco to unveil its weakest Christmas trading performance in several years later this week, the supermarket argues it is sacrificing growth in sales value to fend off the heavy discounters, such as Lidl, Aldi and Netto, which, while comprising a much smaller proportion of the market in Europe, have been growing at double-digit rates.

J Sainsbury is at Number 26, while Morrisons is at Number 33. Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q is at 43, Marks & Spencer at 45 and DSG International, the owner of Currys, is in 49th place - one of only two loss-making companies in the top 50, according to the data.

Dr Ira Kalish, Deloitte Research’s director of consumer business, said: “As we move through 2009, consumers will be intensely value-oriented, even more so than in the recent past. We are seeing this already with consumers shifting to more price focused retailers. For all retailers, this environment will require added attention to keeping costs under control.”

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