16 Facts About Walmart That Will Blow Your Mind

Dina Spector
SuperamaWalmart storefront in Mexico

Photo: Walmart corporate

More than one-fifth of Walmart stores worldwide are currently in Mexico, which is now at the the centre of a massive bribery scandal following a damning New York Times article that alleges over $24 million in payments to aid the retailers rapid expansion in the country.  If the allegations are true, it will be a massive blow to a company that has received credit for ethical behaviour while staking its claim as the largest company in the world. 

Walmart has more employees — 2.1 million — than the population of Houston.

Source: Walmart Corporate & Financial Fact Sheet

Wal-Mart registered more sales in 2012 — $443 billion — than Norway's GPD. If Walmart were a country, it would be the 25th largest economy in the world.

In 2011, Walmart's Mexican unit (see huge scandal) reported total sales of 379 billion pesos or about $29 billion.

Source: SEC filings

Wal-Mart is the largest private employers in both the USA and Mexico.

Source: Walmart Corporate & Financial Fact Sheet

Each week, Walmart serves more than 200 million customers at more than 9,600 retail outlets in 28 countries.

Source: Walmart Corporate & Financial Fact Sheet

8 cents for every U.S. dollar is spent at Walmart.

Source: Statistic Brain

In 2010, CEO Michael Duke's annual salary of $35 million earned him more in an hour than his employees earned in an entire year working for $8.75/hour.

Source: ABC News

In 2009, Walmart sold more bananas than any other item.

Source: Bloomberg

China's exports to Walmart accounted for 11% of the growth of the total U.S. trade deficit with China between 2001 and 2006.

Source: Economic Policy Institute

If Walmart's more than 900 million square feet of retail space were spread out over one place it would take up roughly 34 miles — about 1.5 times the size of Manhattan.

Source: Daily Finance

Walmart parking lots alone take up roughly the size of Tampa, Florida.

Source: Walmart Watch

In 2000, Walmart was sued 4,851 times — about once every 2 hours.

Source: UFCW

90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Walmart.

Source: Business Pundit

The Walton family has given away about 2% of its net worth to charity — Bill Gates is giving away 48% of his net worth and Warren Buffet 78% of his net worth.

Source: Business Pundit

An additional Walmart Supercenter per 100,000 residents increases average BMI by 0.25 units and the obesity rate by 2.4%.

Source: SSRN

The most frequent destination typed into GPS device Telenav is Walmart.

Source: Wireless and Mobile News

Roughly 4,700 (about 90%) of international stores operate under a banner other than Walmart, including Walmex in Mexico, Asda in the UK, Seiyu in Japan, and Best Price in India.

Source: Walmart Corporate & Financial Fact Sheet

Walmart is everywhere

Beautiful Pictures of Wal-Mart Stores Around The World >

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