Restaurant industry food and drink sales in the U.S. 1970-2017
More statistics and facts on fast food, the U.S. restaurant industry and the pizza (delivery) market.
U.S. restaurant industry - additional information
In 2016, food and drink sales in the United States restaurant industry amounted to 766 billion U.S. dollars, up from 798.7 billion U.S. dollars in the previous year. Restaurants in the United States have created a booming industry that employed more than 14 million people nationwide in 2015.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of food and drink sales in the U.S. restaurant industry take place in commercial restaurants. In 2016, full-service restaurant sales amounted to 254 billion U.S. dollars and limited-service sales were 222 U.S. dollars. The second largest contributor in 2015 was retail, vending, recreation and mobile vendors with sales of 70.82 billion U.S. dollars. The smallest proportion came from came from bars and taverns.
As of December 2016, things were still looking up for the U.S. restaurant industry: the monthly Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, conducted by the National Restaurant Association, recorded a performance index score of 100.5 – any score over 100 indicates a period of expansion. The lowest performance index score between 2011 and 2017, 99.4, was recorded in August 2011. In November 2016, 49 percent of U.S. consumers reported that cheaper restaurants would make them dine out more often.