McDonald's: global brand value 2006-2024
In 2024, McDonald's brand value amounted to 221.9 billion U.S. dollars, up from 191 billion dollars a year earlier – an annual increse of 16 percent.
The Golden Arches
McDonald's started its business as a barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. Throughout the years, the company transformed into the leading fast-food franchise with the famous Golden Arches logo. As of May 2023, McDonald's ranked among the largest companies worldwide by market capitalization. Furthermore, the food behemoth was the highest-valued quick-service restaurant chain in the world by a wide margin in 2023, beating competitors such as Starbucks, KFC, and Burger King.
More than a hamburger
McDonald's operates in over 100 countries and produces its most famous hamburger, the Big Mac. This fact provides an informal measure of purchasing power parity between countries – namely the Big Mac Index, introduced by The Economist in 1986. According to the index, Switzerland had the most expensive Big Macs worldwide at 8.17 dollars as of January 2023. Norway and Uruguay followed at 7.14 dollars and 7.04 dollars, respectively.
