McDonald’s plans to open nearly 10,000 more restaurants by 2027—the fastest expansion in the company’s history, the company announced Wednesday. Of its new restaurants, more than one third will be located in China.
McDonald’s has upped its bet on China in recent weeks. In November, the Chicago-headquartered fast food giant increased its minority stake in its China business from 20% to 48% when it purchased shares owned by the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. The ambitious expansion announced Wednesday will add more than 3,500 restaurants in China, bringing the country’s total to more than 8,000.
China is the company’s fastest-growing and second-largest market, McDonald’s chief financial officer Ian Borden told investors in a presentation Wednesday. That’s a big turnaround from 2016, when demand from Chinese consumers was sluggish—so much so that McDonald’s sold off about 80% of its China business to both Carlyle and Chinese Conglomerate CITIC Group, which retains controlling ownership of McDonald’s China. Borden said the company sees “long-term growth potential” in the country despite acknowledging “slowing macroeconomic conditions and historically low consumer sentiment” in a recent earnings call.
McDonald’s isn’t the only fast-food brand expanding its footprint in China. Yum China, which operates Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the country, announced in September that it would open new restaurants over the next three years. Popeyes re-launched its long-held dreams of establishing its brand in China this summer. Starbucks also invested in growing its China business and expanded local menu offerings this year.
For McDonald’s, though, the expansion will go well beyond China. The company owned 40,275 locations worldwide at the end of last year; it plans to grow to 50,000 locations by 2027 and add 100 million new members to its loyalty program. Borden told investors that the company would open 8,900 of its restaurants abroad and 900 in the U.S. Notably, McDonald’s also announced a partnership with Google Cloud to incorporate generative AI into its restaurants worldwide.
Here’s a look at the top 10 countries where McDonald’s owned restaurants as of year-end 2022.