Private label gains across Europe

Private label keeps gaining market share across Europe. The latest Nielsen market share statistics compiled for PLMA's 2020 International Private Label Yearbook reports that private label gained market share last year in 14 of the 19 countries surveyed. In Europe's largest retail markets, private label share stayed above 40 per cent in the United Kingdom and Germany, and now accounts for nearly one of every three products sold in France. In Italy, market share climbed by more than 2 points, its biggest gain ever.
One of the biggest increases was posted in the Netherlands, where share was up more than 7 points to 37 per cent. The unusually large gain came as sales from Aldi with its extensive private label programme were counted by Nielsen for the first time. In neighbouring Belgium, market share for retailer brands climbed to 44 per cent.
Spain and Portugal remained very strong markets for private label. Half of all products sold in Spain were retailer brands, while market share in Portugal climbed nearly 3 points to over 43 per cent.
In central and eastern Europe, market share stayed above 40 per cent in Austria and above 30 per cent in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The biggest increase was in the Czech Republic, which advanced more than one point. Private label again accounted for half the products sold in Switzerland. Norway led the way in Scandinavia, with market share climbing two points to more than 34 per cent. Sweden increased to 33 per cent, while Finland stayed above 30 per cent. In the Mediterranean, market share was above 31 per cent in both Turkey and Greece. Turkey showed a big increase, gaining more than two points, climbing above 30 per cent for the first time.