McDonald’s International Operated Markets segment, which includes Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the U.K., brought in $13.6 billion of total revenues in 2025, about half of the company’s $26.9 billion, its 10-K shows. The U.S. contributed $10.8 billion and the developmental licensed markets plus corporate $2.4 billion. McDonald’s does not report revenue for individual countries.
How we source: the figures in the boxes and charts on this page come from McDonald's’s own annual filing, with the period stated next to each number. Data checked 9 November 2026. The original article below may quote earlier periods. Our methodology.
Key figures · fiscal 2025 (year to 31 December 2025)
Total revenue, FY2025$26.9B+3.7% vs prior year
International Operated Markets$13.6B+8.0% vs prior year
U.S.$10.8B+1.8% vs prior year
Intl. Developmental Licensed Markets & Corporate$2.4B-8.8% vs prior year
Systemwide sales (incl. franchisees)$139.4BFY2025
Operating income: International Operated Markets / U.S.$6.4B / $5.8BFY2025
International Operated Markets: franchised revenues + company-operated sales$13.4B (excludes other revenues)FY2025
McDonald’s by segment: where units and money diverge. Source: McDonald’s Form 10-K 2025 (year to 31 Dec 2025), SEC EDGAR: revenues by segment (franchised and company-operated), restaurants by segment, franchised sales by segment, comparable sales; Q2 2026 earnings release (Aug 2026): U.S. comparable sales. Per-restaurant figures and shares calculated. Bars to scale. Analysis by The Business Engineer.
Operated markets own the real estate. In the U.S. and the International Operated Markets McDonald’s usually owns or leases the site and collects rent, so each restaurant produces more revenue.
Licensed markets pay royalties. The developmental licensed markets have the most restaurants (20,805) but the least revenue, because licensees pay royalties and fund their own restaurants (10-K).
Earlier analysis and background (pre-2026 figures)
The text below is the earlier version of this page. Its figures refer to earlier periods and some were corrected above; the current, sourced figures are in the sections above.
In 2023, McDonald’s generated much revenue from franchised restaurants in the US vs. international markets. Indeed, McDonald’s generated $7.16 billion in revenue in the US from franchised restaurants and $3,22 in company-operated restaurants.
In 2023, McDonald’s generated $8.47 billion in net profits compared to $6.18 billion in net profits for 2022, and $7.54 billion in 2021. The company runs a heavily franchised businessmodel, where it has reached its target of nearly 95% franchised restaurants worldwide.
Franchising is a business model where the owner (franchisor) of a product, service, or method utilizes the distribution services of an affiliated dealer (franchisee). Usually, the franchisee pays the franchisor a royalty to use the brand, process, and product. And the franchisor instead supports the franchisee in starting the activity and providing a set of services as part of the franchising agreement. Franchising models can be heavy-franchised, heavy-chained, or hybrid (franchained).
This is in contrast, perhaps, with a company like Starbucks which follows an entirely different strategy skewed toward company-operated stores.
Key numbersAs stated in this article
$7.16 billionIndeed, McDonald's generated $7.16 billion in revenue in the US from franchised restaurants and $3,22 in…This article
$8.47 billionIn 2023, McDonald's generated $8.47 billion in net profits compared to $6.18 billion in net profits for…This article
95%The company runs a heavily franchised businessmodel, where it has reached its target of nearly 95%…This article
$19 billionIn 2020, McDonald's generated over $19 billion in revenue, compared to Burger King's almost $5 billion in…This article
In one lineIn 2023, McDonald's generated much revenue from franchised restaurants in the US vs. international markets.
FourWeekMBABusiness EngineerAt a glance
In 2023, McDonald's generated much revenue from franchised restaurants in the US vs. international markets.
Indeed, McDonald's generated $7.16 billion in revenue in the US from franchised restaurants and $3,22 in company-operated restaurants.
A similar strategy to McDonald's is employed by Burger King.
An hybrid model is followed by Coca-Cola, which we call "franchained" where Coca-Cola uses an owned strategy in the short term as complex operations are established.
Layout refreshed 7 October 2026. The article text below is unchanged.
Why it mattersFrom the article
McDonald's follows a heavily franchised business strategy, where over time, the company is turning most of its stores into franchises.
McDonald’s and Starbucks sit in the opposite spectrum of retail business models. Indeed, whereas McDonald’s follows a heavily franchised businessmodel, Starbucks follows a heavy-chained one.
Yet, over time Coca-Cola turned its subsidies into a sort of franchised operation, where the company can keep proper control through distribution deals and ownership stakes.
Coca-Cola follows a business strategy (implemented in 2006) where it invests initially in bottling partners’ operations through its operating arm – the Bottling Investment Group. As they take off, Coca-Cola divests its equity stakes, and it establishes a franchising model as long-term growth and distributionstrategy.
The major institutional shareholders comprise The Vanguard Group (8.83%) and BlackRock (7.1%). Major individual shareholders include Kevin Ozan (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer), Stephen Easterbrook (President and CEO), and John Rogers, Jr., an investor, philanthropist, and Ariel Capital Management founder. And a few other individual shareholders.
McDonald’s is a heavily franchised businessmodel. In 2023, 61% of the total revenues came from franchised restaurants. The company’s long-term goal is to transition toward 95% of franchised restaurants (by 2023, franchised restaurants were 94.9% of the total restaurants). The company generated over $25 billion in revenues in 2023, of which $9.74 billion was from owned restaurants and $15.43 billion from franchised restaurants.
Of over $25 billion in revenues for 2023, $9.74 billion came from company-operated stores, while $15.43 billion came from franchised restaurants compared to $23 billion in revenue in 2022, of which $8.74 came from company-operated stores, while $14.1 billion came from franchised restaurants. And over $23 billion in revenue in 2021, McDonald’s generated almost ten billion dollars from company-operated restaurants, while it generated $13 billion from franchised restaurants.
In 2023, McDonald’s generated $8.47 billion in net profits compared to $6.18 billion in net profits for 2022, and $7.54 billion in 2021. The company runs a heavily franchised businessmodel, where it has reached its target of nearly 95% franchised restaurants worldwide.
In 2023, McDonald’s generated $8.47 billion in net profits compared to $6.18 billion in net profits for 2022, and $7.54 billion in 2021. The company runs a heavily franchised businessmodel, where it has reached its target of nearly 95% franchised restaurants worldwide.
McDonald’s had 150,000 employees in 2023, compared to 150,000 employees in 2022, 200,000 employees in 2021, and the same in 2020. The company runs a heavily franchised businessmodel, where most stores are franchised restaurants vs. owned ones. In 2022, McDonald’s franchised locations employed over two million individuals.
McDonald’s runs a heavy franchise businessmodel, where it has been substantially increasing its franchised restaurants while reducing its company-operated ones. For instance, by 2023, McDonald’s had 39,680 franchised restaurants vs. 2,142 owned and operated ones.
McDonald’s runs a heavily franchised business model, where most of its margins come from franchised restaurants vs. operated ones. For instance, in 2023, $1.52 billion came from owned restaurants whereas $12.96 came from franchised restaurants.
Burger King is an American multinational chain of fast-food restaurants that is headquartered in Miami, Florida. The first Burger King restaurant, then known as Insta-Burger King, was opened in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953 by Keith Cramer and his stepfather Matthew Burns. Burger King Worldwide merged with the Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons in 2014. This precipitated the formation of parent company Restaurant Brands International, which is part-owned by former Burger King owner 3G Capital.
McDonald’s has a divisional organizational structure where each division – based on geographical location – is assigned operational responsibilities and strategic objectives. The main geographical divisions are the US, internationally operated markets, and international developmental licensed markets. And on the other hand, the hierarchical leadership structure is organized around regional and functional divisions.
Franchising is a business model where the owner (franchisor) of a product, service, or method utilizes the distribution services of an affiliated dealer (franchisee). Usually, the franchisee pays a royalty to the franchisor to be using the brand, process, and product. And the franchisor instead supports the franchisee in starting up the activity and providing a set of services as part of the franchising agreement. Franchising models can be heavy-franchised, heavy-chained, or hybrid (franchained).
Coca-Cola follows a business strategy (implemented since 2006) where through its operating arm – the Bottling Investment Group – it invests initially in bottling partners operations. As they take off, Coca-Cola divests its equity stakes, and it establishes a franchising model, as long-term growth and distributionstrategy.
Coca-Cola’s Purpose is to “refresh the world. make a difference.” Its vision and mission are to “craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit. And done in ways that create a more sustainable business and better-shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities, and our planet.”
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
