Associated British Foods: store numbers worldwide 2014-2020, by country

Multinational retailer Associated British Foods is the parent company to Primark: the group’s most successful business division and a household name when it comes to discount fashion retail. This is true not just for the UK where Primark has its largest presence, but also increasingly in Europe. In 2020, Primark increased its number of stores to 384 in total, with Spain gaining prominence as the top region after the UK.

Primark reigns in the British Isles

Primark trades as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland, where the fashion retailer had the highest number of stores after Spain and the UK in 2019. Yet, as can be seen in this statistic, Primark’s growth in Ireland has been stagnant since 2014. In the meantime Primark both upped its number of stores and increased its share in the clothing market in the UK and held a 7.1 percent share in 2018. Additionally, the net worth of Primark stores in the UK peaked at 842 billion British pounds in 2018.

Not quite international

Despite a growing number of stores in Europe, Primark lags behind other UK fashion retailers in terms of its regional market scope and presence. The company had opened its first transatlantic store in 2015 in Boston, but US expansion is still limited by nine stores as of September 2019.