Press Release - April 2026

• Sales by fast food outlets reached €6.1 billion in 2025, up 4.3% year-over-year, confirming the continued slowing in growth seen in recent years. Burger chains continued to increase their market share, gaining ground against pizza and sandwich chains.

• The sector is highly concentrated, with the five leading chains controlling three quarters of total sales value in 2025, while the top ten accounted for over 85%.

• INFORMA's DBK Sectoral Observatory recently published these insights in the 'Fast Food Restaurants' Sectoral Report.

Madrid, 21 April 2026.- According to INFORMA's (Cesce's subsidiary) DBK Sectoral Observatory—a leading provider of business, financial, sectoral, and marketing information in Spain and Portugal—the fast food sector's turnover reached €6.1 billion in 2025, representing growth of 4.3% year-over-year and confirming the slowing trend observed in recent years.

This performance was shaped by moderating demand and greater price restraint. Even so, turnover at fast food outlets grew faster than the restaurant sector average, supported by the price advantage fast food offers compared with other restaurant formats.

Over-the-counter sales accounted for around 75% of the market, at €4.565 billion, while home delivery maintained a share close to 25%, reaching €1.535 billion.

By type of outlet, burger chains were the sector's largest segment, with sales of €3.73 billion in 2025, accounting for 61% of the market and an increase of 5.2% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, the pizza segment remained negative (-0.6%), standing at €805 million, while sandwich chains posted moderate growth of 0.9%, to €565 million.

The group of other outlets, which includes chains offering a range of pizzas, burgers and sandwiches without specialising in any one variety, as well as those offering specialities other than the above, performed best, with sales up 7% to €1.0 billion.

On the supply side, at the end of 2025 there were 6,000 fast food outlets, up 0.8% from 2024, confirming the progressive slowdown in the pace of new openings. The sector is highly concentrated: the top five chains held 74.4% of total market value in 2025, rising to 85.3% for the top ten, reinforcing the weight of the leading operators. 

Data Synthesis, 2025