Brand market share of motor fuel sold in the United Kingdom (UK) 2023

Tesco leads the motor fuel market in the United Kingdom. As of 2023, it has a market share of nearly 16 percent. Tesco's position indicates that the introduction of the so-called hypermarket in the UK fuel retail sector had a profound impact on the shape of the industry. Hypermarket groups, owned and operated by retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Asda, accounted for the vast majority of fuel sold. Indeed, the practices of the hypermarkets has led to groups such as the Retail Motor Industry Federation to call for the Office of Fair Trading to conduct an inquiry in to trading practices within the fuel retail industry.

Petrol stations across the country

The emergence of the hypermarket fuel retailer is one of many changes taking place in the UK fuel retail industry, with the declining number of forecourts serving as an indicator of the changing face of fuel retail in the UK. Between 2000 and 2023, figures fell by over 36 percent. 

Market share by number of stations

Despite Tesco selling the most motor fuel out of all brands in the UK, the hypermarket only ranked sixth in a list of market share by number of petrol stations. Tesco’s market share is the highest out of the supermarkets, at 6.1 percent. By comparison, Shell, the British multinational oil and gas company owns a 13.9 percent share of service outlets in the country.