McDonalds Revenue History From the Form 10-K Filings, 2005 to 2026

McDonalds total revenues by year, 2005 to 2025

Quick answer: McDonalds Corporation reported total revenues of $26.885 billion for fiscal year 2025, up 3.7 percent from $25.920 billion in 2024, according to its Form 10-K filed with the SEC in February 2026. That is the highest figure since 2013, when revenues peaked at $28.106 billion, but still 4.3 percent below that peak. Over the 21 years shown here, revenues grew 40.6 percent from $19.117 billion in 2005, an average of 1.7 percent a year. The low point was 2020 at $19.208 billion, when pandemic restrictions closed dining rooms.

Every value below is copied from the consolidated income statement or the selected financial data table of an annual report on Form 10-K. We used the most recent filing that covers each year, because McDonalds restated older years after it sold Chipotle and Boston Market. Growth rates and shares are BusinessStats calculations from those reported figures.

Three phases: revenues climbed to a $28.1 billion peak in 2013, fell in six of the next seven years as McDonalds sold company restaurants to franchisees, and have risen in four of the five years since 2020.

Other revenues (mainly fees for technology platforms and brand licensing) appear as a separate line from the FY2020 filing onward; in earlier filings they are included in the two main lines or did not exist. Small differences between the parts and the total are rounding in the filings. Percentage changes are BusinessStats calculations.

Growth to 2013, a planned decline to 2020 and a recovery since

From 2005 to 2013 revenue rose in every year except 2009. Company-operated restaurants were still a large part of the system: at the end of 2005 McDonalds owned and ran 8,173 of its 30,766 restaurants, and their sales of $14.0 billion made up 73 percent of total revenues. Because the company books the full till receipts of every restaurant it operates, growth in those stores fed straight into the top line. The best single year of the period was 2011, when revenues rose 12.2 percent to $27.0 billion.

Revenues fell in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The FY2016 Form 10-K explains the main reason: McDonalds set a target of refranchising 4,000 restaurants by the end of 2017, with a long term goal of being about 95 percent franchised. When a restaurant is sold to a franchisee, McDonalds stops recording its sales and instead records rent and royalties, which are a fraction of those sales. Company-operated sales fell from $18.9 billion in 2013 to $9.4 billion in 2019, while franchised revenues rose from $9.2 billion to $11.7 billion. A stronger dollar also reduced the value of overseas revenue in several of those years.

The 2020 drop of 8.9 percent was different in nature. Restaurants stayed open where they could through drive thru and delivery, but franchised revenues fell 8.0 percent to $10.7 billion, because rent and royalties are tied to franchisee sales. The rebound came in 2021 with growth of 20.9 percent, the largest in the period. Since then revenues have grown to $26.9 billion on a base that is now 95.5 percent franchised, which makes them more stable but also smaller relative to the size of the system.

Franchised revenues overtook company-operated sales in 2018

The two main revenue lines have swapped places. In 2005 company-operated sales were 2.7 times franchised revenues. The lines crossed in 2018, when franchised revenues of $11.0 billion exceeded company-operated sales of $10.0 billion for the first time in the series. By 2025 franchised revenues were 61.6 percent of the total and company-operated sales 36.0 percent, with other revenues making up the remaining 2.4 percent.

The crossover: franchised revenues passed company-operated sales in 2018, the year after McDonalds reached its target of refranchising 4,000 restaurants.

Why does a smaller revenue line matter more? Franchised revenues have very low direct costs, because the franchisee pays for food, staff and most running costs. Company-operated sales carry all of those costs. This is why operating income kept growing while revenue shrank. McDonalds reported operating income of $12.393 billion in 2025, equal to 46 percent of revenues, a ratio few restaurant companies come close to. For a coffee chain that still runs most of its stores itself, compare the revenue structure on our page on Starbucks net revenue worldwide.

How the franchised share of restaurants rose from 73 to 95 percent

The restaurant counts in the same filings show the refranchising directly. McDonalds operated 8,173 restaurants itself at the end of 2005 and 2,039 at the end of 2025, while the total system grew from 30,766 to 45,356 restaurants. The franchised share therefore rose from 73.4 percent to 95.5 percent. The biggest single step came in 2017, when the number of company-operated restaurants fell from 5,669 to 3,133.

The 95 percent goal was reached in 2024: 41,432 of 43,477 restaurants were franchised at the end of that year, 95.3 percent.

Franchised counts are total restaurants minus company-operated restaurants, which matches the total franchised line in the filings. Shares are BusinessStats calculations.

Inside the franchised total there are three models, and their mix has shifted. At the end of 2025 there were 22,570 conventional franchised restaurants, where McDonalds usually owns or leases the site and collects rent and royalties; 9,675 developmental licensed restaurants, where a licensee owns the business and the property and pays a royalty; and 11,072 foreign affiliated restaurants in markets such as China and Japan, where McDonalds holds an equity stake. Foreign affiliated restaurants grew from 5,797 in 2017 to 11,072 in 2025, nearly doubling, largely because of growth in China. For context on that market, see our page on the total population of China.

Rent, not royalties, is the largest source of McDonalds revenue

McDonalds is often described as a real estate company, and the franchise note in its 10-K supports that view. Of the $16.548 billion in franchised revenues in 2025, $10.442 billion (63.1 percent) was rent, $6.018 billion (36.4 percent) was royalties and $88 million was initial fees. Rent alone was larger than all company-operated sales. Rent and royalties are both charged as a percentage of the sales of each franchised restaurant, with minimum rents on many leases.

Rent leads: franchise rents of $10.4 billion were the single largest revenue line, ahead of $9.7 billion of company-operated sales.

Source: franchise arrangements note in the Form 10-K for FY2019, FY2022 and FY2025.

Franchised revenues are a fairly steady slice of franchisee sales. In 2025 franchised restaurants sold $129.675 billion of food and drink, so franchised revenues were equal to 12.8 percent of those sales. In 2005 the same ratio, using franchised and affiliated sales of $38.913 billion, was 13.1 percent. The ratio is a BusinessStats calculation and not a contractual rate, because affiliated and licensed markets pay lower rates than conventional franchisees.

U.S., International Operated Markets and Developmental Licensed Markets

Since 2019 McDonalds has reported three segments. The U.S. segment; International Operated Markets (IOM), which are markets where McDonalds operates or franchises restaurants itself, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom; and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate (IDL), where a licensee or affiliate runs the business, including China and Japan. Each filing restates the two prior years on the same basis.

IOM is the largest segment: it earned $13.6 billion in 2025, 50.7 percent of the total, against $10.8 billion (40.3 percent) for the U.S.

Three changes stand out. First, IDL revenue halved from $3.70 billion in 2017 to $1.85 billion in 2018, after McDonalds sold its businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong to a partnership in 2017 and began earning royalties and a share of profit instead of restaurant sales. Second, IOM revenue fell 7.5 percent in 2022 to $11.30 billion, the year McDonalds left Russia and the dollar strengthened against the euro and pound. Third, U.S. revenue grew 38 percent from $7.84 billion in 2019 to $10.83 billion in 2025, a period in which U.S. consumer prices also rose sharply, as our page on the monthly U.S. inflation rate shows, and the global inflation page covers the international markets.

Source: Form 10-K for FY2025, segment and geographic information note. Shares are BusinessStats calculations.

Quarterly revenue in 2026: $20.77 billion in the first nine months

McDonalds has published three quarterly earnings releases for 2026, each filed with the SEC on Form 8-K. Third quarter results were released on 4 November 2026. Total revenues for the nine months to 30 September 2026 were $20.773 billion, up 4.5 percent from $19.876 billion a year earlier. Growth slowed through the year, from 9.4 percent in the first quarter, which was helped by a weaker dollar (4 percent in constant currencies), to 3.7 percent in the second and 1.1 percent in the third.

Record quarter: third quarter 2026 revenues of $7.157 billion were the highest of the eight quarters shown, but growth was only 1.1 percent.

Changes are BusinessStats calculations from the reported dollar amounts. McDonalds reported the Q1 2026 increase as 9 percent and the Q3 increase as 1 percent.

The third quarter detail shows where the slowdown came from. U.S. comparable sales fell 0.2 percent, after a 2.4 percent rise a year earlier, while International Operated Markets grew 1.4 percent and International Developmental Licensed Markets 4.2 percent. Company-operated sales fell 3 percent to $2.480 billion, but franchised revenues rose 3 percent to $4.487 billion and other revenues 26 percent to $189 million. Operating income rose 7 percent to $3.595 billion and diluted earnings per share 10 percent to $3.51.

Why McDonalds sells over $139 billion but reports $26.9 billion

Systemwide sales are the sales of every McDonalds restaurant in the world, whether run by the company, a franchisee, a licensee or an affiliate. In 2025 they grew 7 percent (5 percent in constant currencies) to over $139 billion, according to the fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings release. Revenue is what McDonalds itself books: the full sales of its own 2,039 restaurants plus rent, royalties and fees from the other 43,317. That is why revenue was only about one fifth of systemwide sales in 2025.

The two measures answer different questions. Systemwide sales show the size of the brand and are the figure to use when comparing McDonalds with other chains; our ranking of the most valuable quick service restaurant brands covers brand value, which we do not repeat here. Revenue shows what flows into the accounts of McDonalds Corporation, and it is the figure that matters for margins and earnings. McDonalds itself points out in its filings that franchised sales are not recorded as revenues by the company.

Comparable sales are a third measure. They compare sales at restaurants open for at least 13 months and strip out currency effects. For full year 2025 global comparable sales rose 3.1 percent, with the U.S. up 2.1 percent, International Operated Markets up 3.2 percent and International Developmental Licensed Markets up 4.6 percent. In 2024 they fell 0.1 percent. For the wider U.S. restaurant market, see our data on the U.S. pizza restaurant industry and the food and drink services section.

The $20.46 billion versus $19.12 billion question for 2005

Many websites list 2005 revenue as $20.46 billion. That number is correct as first reported: the FY2005 Form 10-K showed total revenues of $20,460 million, with company-operated sales of $15,352 million, and 31,886 restaurants. But that filing still consolidated Chipotle Mexican Grill and Boston Market. McDonalds sold Boston Market in 2007 and fully separated from Chipotle in 2006, and later filings show both as discontinued operations for all periods. The FY2007 Form 10-K therefore shows 2005 revenues of $19,117 million and 30,766 restaurants.

Mixing the two bases distorts growth rates. On the restated basis revenue rose 9.3 percent in 2006, not the 2 percent that appears when the original 2005 figure is set against the restated 2006 figure. This page uses the restated values throughout. The same logic applies to anyone building a long revenue series for other companies, such as our tables of Apple net sales since 2005 or Tesla revenue.

How this revenue history was compiled

Earlier versions of this page included a 2026 revenue forecast of $28 to $30 billion, a 2028 projection and loyalty user counts from secondary websites. None of these appear in a McDonalds filing, so they have been removed. The previous page also gave 2025 global comparable sales of 5.7 percent and U.S. comparable sales of 6.8 percent; those were fourth quarter figures, and the full year values were 3.1 percent and 2.1 percent. Readers who want to compare the company with other listed firms by value can use our lists of the biggest companies by market value and the top companies by market capitalization, and our stock market terminology guide explains terms such as diluted earnings per share.

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