Aldi reports record Christmas sales after shoppers moved to cut festive grocery bills

Aldi has reported record Christmas sales as cost-conscious shoppers aimed to cut their festive grocery spending.The UK arm of the German discounter said sales rose by 3% year-on-year in the four weeks to 24 December to £1.65bn, with a 5% surge of £500m in the final week.The retailer did not provide comparable sales figures for outlets open at least a year, the industry standard reporting measure. Aldi opened 40 stores last year and now has 1,081, with a long-term goal of 1,500 outlets in the UK.Aldi, Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket after Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, said 22 December was its busiest trading day. It recorded more than 57m transactions over the four weeks, an all-time high.Demand for its Specially Selected premium own-label range increased by more than 12%. Popular products from the range included The Ultimate Wagyu Fat Roast Potatoes, Double Wrapped Pigs in Blankets, as well as White Chocolate Ganache Pinecones.Aldi said it sold more than 5.5m bottles of fizz over the festive period, and shoppers bought 56m potatoes, 37m carrots, and half-a-million turkeys.Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “This Christmas proved once again that a great quality Christmas can still be affordable.”He added that Christmas “remains a challenging time for many”, as people still struggle with living costs, despite an overall drop in food price inflation. “As we move into 2026, our focus remains unchanged – keeping prices low and quality high,” he added.Hurley had expressed concerns that the late-November timing of the budget could hit consumer spending in the Christmas run-up.Rival German discount chain Lidl has also reported a “record-breaking” Christmas, with a 10% surge in sales to £1.1bn during the four weeks to Christmas Eve. Nearly 51 million people shopped at Lidl, up 8% year on year. Lidl also does not provide like-for-like figures. The chain opened about 40 new stores in 2025, taking its total to more than 1,000.For Lidl, 23 December was its busiest day, although it said customers began shopping for Christmas earlier than ever, with 30m mince pies sold from September. Sales of easy-peeler clementines jumped by nearly 40% in the final week before 24 December, and it sold almost 100 tonnes of pistachio-based products over the festive season. It also credited its loyalty scheme, Lidl Plus.