As you and your kids sit under the golden arches of your local McDonald’s Playland know this: You’re one of the reasons America’s favorite fast food chain can boast that it’s sold over a billion hamburgers. Yes that’s a billion with a “B.” And it’s highly likely that the famous global burger joint has sold a lot more burgers than that considering that a) McDonald’s sold approximately 75 hamburgers per second globally in 2021 (according to Investing.com) and b) there are 86400 seconds in a day. To figure out how that per-second number was arrived at you’ll have to do a little math. Investing.com reports that Mickey D’s sells 6.48 million hamburgers per day. To get the number per second you would divide 6.48 million by 86400 seconds to get 75 hamburgers per second.
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The Truth About How Many Hamburgers McDonald's Really Sold
That works out to nearly 2.4 billion burgers per year and that’s just in one year—one modern 21st century year at that. The statistic is also over two years old at the time of writing so getting more exact numbers is proving a bit elusive. While the burger giant used to brag about its burger sales on billboards it’s been a bit quiet on the subject these days. Plus given the number of factors that influence McDonald’s daily sales the actual number is likely to fluctuate regardless of the year making it harder to calculate true sales figures every second.
According to CNN the burger giant aims to have 50000 stores worldwide by 2027. The CNN report came out in 2023 when the burger giant’s number of restaurants exceeded 41000. It aims to open another 2100 stores by 2024. The chain was founded in 1940 and from the day it first opened its doors to eventually reaching 10000 stores in the 1970s 30 years had passed. However the company’s past growth rate will seem like a snail’s pace compared to the 9000 stores it plans to open in the coming years.
The size of each store also makes a difference. How Stuff Works reports that the largest McDonald's in the world is 19000 square feet. It's also open 24 hours a day seven days a week and located near Walt Disney World. That store doesn't just have fast-food burgers — it has more menu items than most other stores. Thanks to the fact that it's open 24/7 (and possibly the appeal of its extensive menu) it's safe to assume that it will sell more burgers than the average McDonald's. Typical locations are at least 4500 square feet (according to McDonald's). The average McDonald's generates an average of $2.7 million in annual sales according to Reader's Digest. In other words rapid expansion rates and individual franchise sizes and offerings will affect burger sales per second in the future.
