New figures from Worldpanel by Numerator show Lidl taking 13.8% of Portugal’s grocery market during the first 24 weeks of the year, up from 12.5% during the same period in 2025.

Mercadona, meanwhile, slipped slightly from 7.5% to 7.4%. It is a small decline, but a notable one for a chain that has steadily gained ground since arriving in Portugal seven years ago.

The gap between the two retailers now stands at 6.4 percentage points.

More customers aren’t necessarily spending more

There is an interesting difference in how the two supermarket chains are growing.

Mercadona continues to attract new customers as it opens stores across Portugal, but that hasn’t translated into a corresponding increase in its share of grocery spending.

Lidl has taken a different route. Worldpanel says its growth is being driven largely by existing customers shopping there more often, helping the German retailer gain 1.3 percentage points of market share in a year.

Mercadona opened its first Portuguese supermarket in Vila Nova de Gaia in July 2019 and has been gradually moving south ever since. The company is due to reach the Algarve before the end of this year.

Its Portuguese business is still growing financially. Revenue reached €2.092 billion in 2025, an increase of 18%, while profit rose from €7 million to €26 million.

But Portugal’s grocery market is crowded, and the biggest players remain some distance ahead.

Continente remains number one

Continente held onto the top spot during the first half of 2026 with a 27.6% market share, although that was down slightly from 27.9% a year earlier.

Pingo Doce moved closer to its main rival, increasing its share from 21.4% to 22.3%.

Between them, Continente and Pingo Doce now account for almost exactly half of Portugal’s grocery market. Lidl follows in third place at 13.8%, with Mercadona at 7.4%.

Further down the table, traditional independent retailers account for 6.3%, Intermarché 6.1%, Auchan and Minipreço together 5.5%, Aldi 2.9% and E.Leclerc 0.8%.

For Mercadona, the figures don’t suggest that its Portuguese expansion has stalled. More households are shopping there, and new stores are still being added. What they do show is how difficult it is to turn those new customers into a larger share of their regular grocery spending.

Lidl, for the moment, appears to be having more success doing exactly that.