Brazil Tops A.T. Kearney's 2011 Global Retail Development Index

Brazil is now ranked as the top developing economy for global retail expansion, according to the 10th annual Global Retail development Index (GRDI) released last week by A.T. Kearney.

A.T. Kearney says the 2011 GRDI ranking mirrors the dramatic changes that have taken place in global markets, and the varying impacts they have had on different emerging economies.

For example, South American countries have fared well during the recession, posting an impressive 6 percent GDP growth in 2010. In addition to Brazil's top ranking, three other South American countries made the Top 10 of the GRDI: Uruguay, Chile and Peru.

Brazil jumped to first place from #5 in last year's GRDI. Likewise, Uruguay climbed up the rankings to #2 from #8 last year, and Chile rose from #6 in 2010 to #3 this year.

The Middle East and North Africa also ranked highly in the 2011 GRDI. Political unrest in countries like Egypt and Tunisia are undoubtedly current challenges to growth, but Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE (all top 10 GRDI markets in 2011) have not experienced the turmoil of some of their neighbors and are expected to remain stable going forward.

Here is a complete list of the Top 10 GRDI markets in 2011:
1. Brazil
2. Uruguaya
3. Chile
4. India
5. Kuwait
6. China
7. Saudi Arabia
8. Peru
9. U.A.E.
10. Turkey

Over the past ten years, the GRDI study has shown that global retail expansion is a portfolio game. Retailers must have an optimal mix of countries, formats and operating models to succeed.

"In the last 10 years in has become clear that there is no one size fits all' formula for global expansion," Hana Ben-Shabat, A.T. Kearney partner and co-leader of the study, said. "Different countries are at different levels of development and have different risk/return profiles, which require retailers to tailor their approaches accordingly and assemble a portfolio of markets to balance short-term risk with long-term growth aspirations."


A detailed analysis and country-specific results for the 2011 GRDI are available at www.atkearney.com/grdi.