A new report indicates that Tesco Group is worth €2.5 billion a year to the economy here and supports almost 27,000 jobs both directly and indirectly.
The report - from Indecon International Economic Consultants - says that the company's stores outside of Ireland are also the second biggest buyers in the world of Irish food and drink.
This means it is a bigger purchaser of Irish food and drink than several countries, including France, Germany and the US.
The report also says that overall domestic expenditures by the supermarket group expanded by almost 29% between 2004 and 2006 while its workforce has risen by 55.6% to 13,044 since 1998.
Tesco Ireland also contributed €135.5m in tax, up 17% in two years.
