After a growth spurt last year, there are more than 66,000 units of U.S.-based fast-food restaurants abroad just among the 10 largest chains, data from trade publication QSR magazine shows.
The fastest-growing major U.S. chain abroad is Subway, which added over 1,000 international units last year. Growth markets include Russia, Brazil,China, and United Arab Emirates.
Subway operates in 100 countries now, adding Suriname and Romania last year. The chain does substantial menu changes for individual markets, including going vegetarian in its India restaurants.
Hot on Subway’s heels is Dunkin’ Donuts, which opened more than 900 donut shops overseas in 2012.
Last year saw Dunkin’s first shops open in India and Guatemala, and Vietnam is coming this year. Chile, Colombia, and Peru were growth markets last year.
In third place in the international-growth derby is KFC, which added nearly 700 restaurants abroad. Sales at its more than 4,200 restaurants in China floundered, in part thanks to a poultry-supply scandal, but the Yum! Brands division kept on growing overseas.
Leading the pack in international presence is — no surprise — McDonald’s, which now has more than 18,700 international units.
McDonald’s had a slow year in 2012 for international growth, though, growing by only 212 units, QSR reports. The UK and Russia were standout international performers last year for the Golden Arches.
As McDonald’s story shows, if you’ve got a big enough lead on the competition, you don’t necessarily need big growth to be the biggest global player.
Some of the biggest chains internationally didn’t grow a lot in the past year, but still have the largest overseas store counts. Click here to see the top 10 fast-food chains with the most restaurants overseas.
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