The weight of Walmart: A company with an annual revenue more than the GDPs 170 countries

Walmart is more than Earth’s largest retailer. Its finances, footprint and personnel dwarf entire industries and countries. Here’s a lowdown on the company.

Updated: Oct 08, 2012, 08.43 AM IST

Walmart is more than Earth’s largest retailer. Its finances, footprint and personnel dwarf entire industries and countries. Its epic $400-billion plus annual revenues eclipse the GDPs of more than 170 countries, and its 21,00,000 employees would form the second largest standing army on the planet. Here’s a lowdown on a company that may soon come to India.

1) REVENUE

Walmart’s 2010 revenues were bigger than the revenues of America’s largest oil company, largest manufacturer, and largest pharmaceutical company.

2) COMPETITION

Walmart is Earth’s largest retailer with five times the sales of the second largest US retailer Costco, and 10 times the sales of largest online retailer Amazon.

3) GEOGRAPHY

Lined up side by side, Walmart’s warehouses would cover all of Manhattan’s 880 million sq ft.

4) MANPOWER

Walmart’s 21,00,000 employees would form the second largest active military in the world, equating the combined armies of North Korea (1.1 million) and Russia (1 million).

5) TRADE

Walmart is the largest U S importer of Chinese goods. Around 15% of all US Chinese imports are Walmart’s.

6) WELFARE

If Walmart were a national economy, they would rank first in the world for income inequality: CEO Michael Duke makes more in an hour than his sales associate will in a year.