Number of McDonald's restaurants worldwide 2005-2019

 How many McDonald’s are there in the world? 

Global foodservice retailer McDonald’s operated and franchised a total of 38,695 restaurants worldwide in 2019. This figure has seen a year-on-year increase for the last 13 years.

 A global foodservice leader

McDonald’s is undoubtedly the world’s leading quick service restaurant with over 38 thousand locations in over 119 markets. Not only is the chain wide-spread it was by far the most valuable fast food brand in the world in 2019, with an estimated brand value of approximately 130.37 billion U.S. dollars. The only foodservice company that came close was coffeehouse chain Starbucks, its brand value amounting to the much smaller sum of approximately 46 billion U.S. dollars. Not only has McDonald’s made a name for itself in the fast food industry – but on an intersectoral level as well. In 2019, it was ranked ninth among other leading global brands such as Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Top ranked, and therefore most valuable, was Amazon which recorded a brand value of over 315 billion U.S. dollars.

 Tapping into new markets 

The Chicago-based quick service chain has the majority of its stores in its native country of the United States. However, McDonald’s has increased its store units in high growth markets, which, as the name already suggests - are markets that continue to grow at an increasing rate. The company has even implemented a growth strategy called “Velocity Growth Plan”, to further its expansion projects.