From 2019 to 2024, consumers in Great Britain were surveyed on how often they bought food and drink at fast food outlets. In January 2024, almost half of the respondents stated that they never bought food and drink at fast food outlets. Meanwhile, 15 percent of respondents stated that they did so once a week.

In 2019/20, when asked how often they eat out at fast food restaurants, 16 percent of 18-24 year old respondents said at least once a week, compared to just four percent of 65 and overs. There was a general correlation between age and eating fast food, with younger respondents eating at fast food restaurants more often than older respondents.

Combined, branded fast food restaurants generated the largest share of fast food market value in 2018. Traditional branded restaurants were worth 4.9 billion British pounds in 2018, while branded restaurants with a focus on delivery generated over two billion pounds and branded contemporary restaurants a further 1.5 billion.

Fast food market in the UK

Fast food restaurants, also known as quick service restaurants (QSR), are a lucrative segment of the food service industry. According to reported figures on the eating out market, the UK fast food market was worth almost 15 billion British pounds in 2018. It competed with pubs and bars, which are now the most popular dining out option for Brits, more so than traditional service-led restaurants. Branded fast food restaurants made up an 8.9 percent share of eating out market value in 2017 compared to 25 percent for pubs and bars.

Branded vs. independent fast food restaurants

Although fast food brands generated the largest share of market value, independent outlets almost matched the value of traditional fast food restaurants. The UK was home to over 26 thousand independent fast food restaurants including takeaways in 2018, the most of any other fast food restaurant outlet type, establishing their significance on the market. The UK takeaway market has traditionally been an important segment and has recently received a boost thanks to developments in online food delivery apps.

The market size of the United Kingdom's fast food and takeaway industry stood at 23.1 billion British pounds in 2025. Meanwhile, employees in the sector numbered over 400,000. How many fast food and takeaway restaurants are in the UK? The number of businesses in the UK's takeaway and fast food sector totaled close to 50,000 as of January 2025. At the forefront of the industry are household names such as Greggs, KFC, and McDonald's, all of which regularly rank among the most popular dining brands in the UK. Greggs, in particular, has seen impressive growth in the past two decades, with the bakery chain's turnover more than tripling between 2006 and 2023. What is the most popular takeaway food in Great Britain? A 2023 survey asked consumers in Great Britain to rank their favorite type of takeaway food. Pizza ended up being the most popular takeaway cuisine in Great Britain that year, with 50 percent of respondents choosing the dish. Other popular takeaway options in the United Kingdom’s restaurant delivery and takeaway industry include Chinese, Italian, and Burgers.

During a survey carried out in the UK in 2024 about the consumption of unhealthy foods, it was revealed that taste was the most important factor. The convenience of unhealthy foods also appeared as a top reason to consume such products; some 57 percent of respondents ate fast food as it is readily available.

This statistic presents the results of a survey on fast food outlet and restaurant usage in the United Kingdom as of May 2015. In the three months prior to the survey, 65 percent said they had eaten in a fast food restaurant. McDonald's came out as the most popular chain having been visited by 43 percent of respondents.

In 2022/23, the average person in the United Kingdom consumed about 14 grams of burgers per week when eating out. While this was an increase over the previous year, it remained below the rates recorded between 2015 and 2019/20, when the figure never dipped below 18 grams. How much do people spend on eating out in the UK? In 2022/23, the average spend per person per week on food and drink consumed away from home in the UK stood at just over 10 British pounds. While this showed growth over the previous two years, it was nevertheless around 34 percent lower than in 2019/20, demonstrating the changed spending habits of consumers in the UK since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This is also evident when looking at the consumption of the UK's favorite takeaway option, pizza, out of home, with the average amount purchased per person per week decreasing at an even sharper rate in 2022/23. How big is the restaurant industry in the UK? Despite the challenges the UK's restaurant industry has faced in recent years, it has continued to be a significant contributor to the UK's economy, with its market size totaling close to 19 billion British pounds in 2023. On the job front, the industry also employs a significant amount of the UK's workforce, with the number of employees in the UK's restaurant and café industry standing at over 800,000 in 2022.

According to a survey of restaurant brands in the United Kingdom in the third quarter of 2024, Greggs had the highest rating among the British public, with 77 percent having a positive opinion of the brand. J D Wetherspoon, Pizza Express, KFC, and McDonald's were also rated among the top five brands. Number of Greggs shops in the UK Along with ranking as one of the most popular restaurant brands in the UK, Greggs is also one of the most prolific. The company had around 2.4 thousand outlets operating across the country in 2023, a figure which showed an increase of around five percent compared to the previous year. Since 2006, the number of Greggs shops in the UK has nearly doubled. How big is the restaurant industry in the UK? The United Kingdom’s restaurant industry is exceptionally diverse, comprising fast food companies, casual dining brands, and Michelin star restaurants. In 2023, the market size of the restaurant industry in the UK was estimated at around 18.7 billion British pounds. That figure, meanwhile, was forecast to reach 19.5 billion British pounds by 2026.

The quick service restaurant sector (QSR) in the United States has seen a near year-over-year growth since 2004, with its peak consumer spending exceeding 358.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Consumer spending in this sector saw a notable decline in 2020, however, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Fast food industry in the U.S. - additional information Quick service restaurants (QSRs) are fast food restaurants, set apart from full service or table restaurants by their limited menus, minimal table service and, as their name implies, fast service. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) carried out in 2024, the quick service restaurant chain in the United States with the highest ACSI score was Chick-fil-A. With a score of 83 out of 100. McDonald’s scored the lowest with a score of 71. Is McDonald's the largest QSR chain? Despite McDonald's low score on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, McDonald’s was the largest fast food company worldwide in terms of brand value in 2022. That year, the company generated a global brand value of almost 196.5 billion U.S. dollars. McDonald's closest competitor in terms of brand value was Starbucks, with 61.7 billion U.S. dollars. KFC followed with 22.2 billion U.S. dollars.

Business leaders within the eating and drinking out sector in the United Kingdom expected their biggest challenges for business recovery post-lockdown due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to be operational changes and Government regulations. Challenges related to staff and supply were not considered as major.

This statistic displays eating out behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by gender. Male respondents were generally more likely than female respondents to eat out (78 percent of males to 72 percent of females), while women were more likely to eat out at a cafe (28 percent to 22 percent men). The least amount of respondents reported eating in a work canteen (11 percent of men and 7 percent of women).

Costa Coffee is the most popular fast-food chain on Facebook in the United Kingdom (UK), attracting approximately 1.75 million fans to their page. It is followed by Starbucks with over 1.48 million Facebook fans as of October 2020.

Big Macs in plentiful supply

The United Kingdom was home to 1,292 McDonald’s restaurants in 2018, the third highest in Europe behind the 1,463 restaurants in France and 1,489 restaurants in Germany. However, given that Germany has approximately 82.95 million inhabitants, and the United Kingdom has approximately 66.87 million inhabitants, the UK has one McDonald’s restaurant for every 51,757 inhabitants, compared to one restaurant for every 55,709 inhabitants in Germany.

Popularity around the world   

McDonald’s is the most valuable fast food brand in the world, by a significant margin, with a brand value of 126.04 billion U.S. dollars. The company has undergone significant developments in order to keep ahead of changing consumer preferences and general aspirations of healthy eating. Despite these changes, McDonald’s has not been able to arrest the decline in revenue the company has been experiencing since 2013. Peaking at 28.11 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, the revenue of McDonald’s corporation worldwide fell to 21.03 billion U.S. dollars by 2018.

In 2023, the online food market showed a 6.9 percent sales increase in the United Kingdom (UK). The increase followed the big decline in 2022. Monthly data from the second half of 2023 aligned with this trend and showed that the share of food retail sales made online plateaued at around nine percent.

Fewer consumer goods in the shopping cart

Rampant inflation and a general economic recession together with a return to brick-and-mortar changed the online spending intentions of buyers. Only one-fourth of UK consumers intended to purchase fast-moving consumer goods like groceries and household goods online. Nearly one in two users favored electronics, while clothing and footwear came third in the ranking of product categories bought on the internet.

Grocery delivery against the clock

When the purchase decision is made, some grocery products are still preferred over others due to delivery conditions. Shipping timing plays an important role in grocery shopping, as it affects the quality of delivered fresh products. About two-thirds of UK shoppers would buy frozen products and dry goods, leaving perishables near the end of the wishlist. A surprising 30 percent of UK shoppers claimed their groceries did not arrive fresh enough, the third-most common cause of a negative shopping experience in 2022.

According to the Statista Global Consumer Survey carried out between July 2023 and June 2024 in the United Kingdom, members of the Gen Z cohort were the most likely to agree with the statement that food must be convenient and fast. The older the respondent, the less likely they were to agree with the statement. For more countries, the results of prior surveys, and a variety of other topics, please visit our Global Consumer Survey web page.

In 2023, the market size of the quick service restaurant industry worldwide reached 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars, representing a slight increase over the previous year. Quick service restaurants, also known as limited service or fast food restaurants, are establishments which typically serve food to customers quickly while having minimal table service. What are the leading fast food restaurant chains worldwide? As of 2024, Starbucks held the title of the highest-valued restaurant brand in the world. With a brand value exceeding 60 billion U.S. dollars, it was nearly double that of the second most valuable brand, McDonald's. In the ranking of the leading food and drink service chains by global sales, Starbucks was among the top three, generating over 36 billion U.S. dollars. The company closely followed the UK-based food service leader, the Compass Group. Which country has the highest number of Starbucks locations? In 2023, the country with the most Starbucks stores was its home country of the United States, where there were over 16 thousand locations. The coffee shop chain also had a significant presence in China and Korea. In the U.S., Starbucks was the coffee shop chain with the highest sales, generating approximately 20 billion U.S. dollars more than its closest competitor, Dunkin’. Additionally, Starbucks enjoyed popularity among U.S. consumers, receiving an average American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score of 80 out of 100.

This data shows a CAGR forecast for the eating out market in the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2017. The forecast by Pragma and Allegra Foodservice shows that branded fast food and street food are the fast growing sectors, while there will be an estimated 1.2 percent decline in independent restaurants.

The statistic shows the share of consumers who have eaten a medium or rare beef burger from a restaurant, fast food venue, pub or takeaway in the two weeks prior to a survey conducted in October 2015, by age. Overall, around a quarter of respondents claimed to have consumed a medium or rare beef burger in the last two weeks, with younger age groups the most likely to.

According to a survey, 0.7 percent of weekly household expenditure went on take away meals eaten at home in the United Kingdom in the 2023 fiscal year. Among the disposable income decile groups surveyed, the group with the highest share of spending on takeaways was the fifth decile group, with 0.9 percent.

In 2024, approximately 27 percent of survey respondents in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland stated that they were highly concerned about food being produced sustainably. In comparison, the percentage of respondents who were not very concerned about food sustainability stood at 20 percent.

Spending on restaurants and cafes in the United Kingdom increased in 2023 compared to the previous year. During this period, consumer spending rose to 132.59 billion British pounds, denoting an increase of around seven percent from the previous year.