Size and presence
The stock of the 503 franchise networks measured changed by +16.1% from May 2023 to October 2026, with -1.6% in the last year
Change in the stock of active CNPJs of the 503 measured networks, from May 2023 to October 2026, or +4.5% per year
See the full table (8 rows)
| Segment | Networks | May 2023 | October 2025 | October 2026 | Change in the period | Change in the last interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 124 | 11,400 | 13,059 | 12,670 | +11.1% | -3.0% |
| Health, beauty and wellness | 86 | 11,744 | 12,866 | 12,364 | +5.3% | -3.9% |
| Services and other businesses | 126 | 8,184 | 11,020 | 11,023 | +34.7% | +0.0% |
| Fashion and accessories | 83 | 8,816 | 9,943 | 9,657 | +9.5% | -2.9% |
| Food, retail and distribution | 25 | 4,520 | 5,908 | 6,001 | +32.8% | +1.6% |
| Education | 31 | 3,725 | 3,585 | 3,297 | -11.5% | -8.0% |
| Gyms and sports | 21 | 1,080 | 2,035 | 2,457 | +127.5% | +20.7% |
| Tourism and hospitality | 7 | 456 | 479 | 472 | +3.5% | -1.5% |
Networks growing, stable and decliningNetworks with at least 5 active CNPJs in the first snapshot, with a threshold of 10% change over the entire period.
| Segment | Comparable networks | Growing | Stable | Declining |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 119 | 44.5% | 25.2% | 30.3% |
| Health, beauty and wellness | 83 | 54.2% | 21.7% | 24.1% |
| Services and other businesses | 105 | 49.5% | 19.0% | 31.4% |
| Fashion and accessories | 82 | 48.8% | 36.6% | 14.6% |
| Food, retail and distribution | 23 | 78.3% | 13.0% | 8.7% |
| Education | 31 | 32.3% | 22.6% | 45.2% |
| Gyms and sports | 18 | 88.9% | 5.6% | 5.6% |
| Tourism and hospitality | 5 | 20.0% | 60.0% | 20.0% |
By business categoryCategories with at least 3 measured networks and 30 active CNPJs in the first snapshot.
| Category | Networks | May 2023 | October 2025 | October 2026 | Change in the period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unattended micro market | 4 | 139 | 502 | 739 | +431.7% |
| Pilates | 3 | 180 | 396 | 481 | +167.2% |
| Physiotherapy | 3 | 125 | 252 | 314 | +151.2% |
| Laundry | 17 | 1,062 | 2,319 | 2,658 | +150.3% |
| Training studio | 4 | 108 | 220 | 255 | +136.1% |
| Milkshakes | 4 | 383 | 805 | 892 | +132.9% |
| Sports school | 3 | 137 | 231 | 318 | +132.1% |
| Gym | 11 | 655 | 1,188 | 1,403 | +114.2% |
| Equipment rental | 4 | 342 | 623 | 663 | +93.9% |
| Thrift store | 3 | 412 | 769 | 751 | +82.3% |
| Elderly care | 3 | 214 | 364 | 377 | +76.2% |
| Paints | 3 | 297 | 544 | 518 | +74.4% |
| Auto repair and tires | 3 | 157 | 291 | 272 | +73.2% |
| Vehicle sales | 3 | 143 | 240 | 244 | +70.6% |
| Medical clinics and vaccines | 6 | 218 | 352 | 346 | +58.7% |
| Logistics and transportation | 6 | 141 | 179 | 218 | +54.6% |
| Insurance | 4 | 105 | 135 | 152 | +44.8% |
| Cakes | 5 | 536 | 711 | 769 | +43.5% |
| Açaí | 13 | 1,138 | 1,617 | 1,577 | +38.6% |
| Compounding pharmacy | 7 | 465 | 638 | 642 | +38.1% |
| Cell phones and repair | 4 | 198 | 283 | 269 | +35.9% |
| Bars and draft beer | 3 | 74 | 91 | 97 | +31.1% |
| Plated jewelry | 4 | 290 | 347 | 379 | +30.7% |
| Pharmacy | 11 | 640 | 786 | 833 | +30.2% |
| Italian food | 5 | 408 | 533 | 519 | +27.2% |
| Real estate | 4 | 269 | 314 | 336 | +24.9% |
| Sweet shop | 7 | 535 | 669 | 660 | +23.4% |
| Chocolate | 3 | 2,858 | 3,557 | 3,449 | +20.7% |
| Pizzeria | 10 | 448 | 537 | 533 | +19.0% |
| Japanese food | 6 | 283 | 352 | 336 | +18.7% |
| Cleaning and pest control | 9 | 440 | 495 | 518 | +17.7% |
| Cosmetics | 11 | 3,000 | 3,449 | 3,497 | +16.6% |
| Sporting goods and activewear | 4 | 361 | 409 | 419 | +16.1% |
| Savory snacks | 7 | 359 | 442 | 416 | +15.9% |
| Fried chicken | 7 | 331 | 364 | 364 | +10.0% |
| Laser hair removal | 8 | 1,102 | 1,205 | 1,210 | +9.8% |
| Intimate apparel | 7 | 430 | 496 | 472 | +9.8% |
| Ice cream shop | 11 | 634 | 695 | 689 | +8.7% |
| Optical store | 17 | 2,986 | 3,254 | 3,230 | +8.2% |
| Tutoring | 4 | 341 | 371 | 367 | +7.6% |
| Aesthetic clinic | 5 | 471 | 565 | 498 | +5.7% |
| Footwear | 27 | 2,435 | 2,682 | 2,566 | +5.4% |
| Snacks | 3 | 140 | 148 | 144 | +2.9% |
| Travel agency | 5 | 350 | 365 | 356 | +1.7% |
| Home goods | 3 | 308 | 329 | 310 | +0.6% |
| Clothing | 18 | 1,605 | 1,666 | 1,577 | -1.7% |
| Vehicle inspection | 13 | 1,080 | 1,185 | 1,052 | -2.6% |
| Burger restaurant | 5 | 2,223 | 2,201 | 2,160 | -2.8% |
| Nail salon | 3 | 168 | 168 | 163 | -3.0% |
| Specialty grocery | 3 | 414 | 423 | 400 | -3.4% |
| Snack bar | 3 | 1,151 | 1,139 | 1,101 | -4.3% |
| Restaurant | 9 | 1,022 | 1,001 | 974 | -4.7% |
| Coffee shop | 12 | 1,274 | 1,393 | 1,211 | -4.9% |
| Juices and mate | 7 | 641 | 657 | 607 | -5.3% |
| Barbecue and meats | 6 | 366 | 370 | 341 | -6.8% |
| Credit and purchasing consortia | 9 | 583 | 584 | 523 | -10.3% |
| Beauty salon | 3 | 155 | 161 | 136 | -12.3% |
| Vocational courses | 7 | 868 | 856 | 760 | -12.4% |
| Mattresses | 5 | 759 | 740 | 660 | -13.0% |
| Language schools | 15 | 2,136 | 1,953 | 1,774 | -16.9% |
| Dentistry | 19 | 4,698 | 4,355 | 3,804 | -19.0% |
| Solar energy | 3 | 187 | 186 | 151 | -19.3% |
| Stationery and gifts | 3 | 221 | 191 | 155 | -29.9% |
| Eyebrow studio | 3 | 198 | 172 | 135 | -31.8% |
Origin of the CNPJs that enter the networksActive CNPJs attributed to a network at the end of the interval that were not in it, as active, at the start. Intervals involving the reference month with missing rows have a partial count.
| Interval | Opened in the interval | Already existed, under another name | Already existed, without a trade name | Already existed, without active status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2023 to October 2025 | 18,104 | 1,548 | 630 | 220 |
| October 2025 to October 2026 | 5,970 | 533 | 450 | 98 |
Trade name completion in the full databaseThe snapshot contains only establishments with the trade name filled in. The share varies between reference months and affects the comparison of stocks.
| Reference month | Active establishments | Active with a trade name | Share with a trade name | In the 1% sample, with an MEI election | In the 1% sample, without an MEI election |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2023 | 23,487,976 | 16,420,413 | 69.9% | 109,821 | 60,592 |
| October 2025 | 27,191,672 | 7,921,865 | 29.1% | 15,332 | 70,051 |
| October 2026 | 28,380,646 | 7,969,043 | 28.1% | 15,404 | 70,245 |
Snapshots of the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) make it possible to measure the stock of each network at past dates without depending on what was declared at the time. With the same trade name expression and the same CNAEs (national classification of economic activities) as the current census, the 503 measured networks had 49,925 active CNPJs in May 2023 and have 57,941 in October 2026, a change of +16.1% in 41 months. In the sample of the general database, active establishments with a trade name and without an MEI (individual microentrepreneur regime) election changed by +15.9% in the same period.
In the last interval, from October 2025 to October 2026, the networks' stock changed by -1.6%, compared with +0.3% in the sample of the general database, an interval in which 5.1% of the networks' CNPJs were classified as inapt or suspended. Among the 466 networks with at least 5 CNPJs in the first snapshot, 50.4% grew by more than 10%, 24.0% remained stable and 25.5% shrank by more than 10%. By segment, the change ranges from -11.5% in education to +127.5% in gyms and sports.
The universe is that of the networks existing today, which raises the result, because networks that have closed are not included. The stock of each network by reference month appears in its profile.
How we calculate
In each reference month, we apply the trade name expression and the CNAE subclasses currently in force to the 503 networks with a section of Receita Federal (the federal tax authority) in the profile and count the 14-digit CNPJs with active status. Two corrections make the reference months comparable. In May 2023, the file still included the trade name of CNPJs with an MEI election, so the 2,424 CNPJs with that election that do not appear in any later snapshot are removed from that date. In the reference month with missing rows, the absent CNPJs are estimated from the neighboring snapshots, as described in the limitations.
A network is considered growing above 10% and declining below -10% over the entire period, and the 37 networks with fewer than 5 CNPJs in the first snapshot are left out of this share. In the last interval, the threshold is 5%, and 28.1% of the 501 comparable networks grew, compared with 39.7% declining.
The check against the observatory's census uses the same expression. In October 2026, the reference month of both the census and the latest snapshot, the snapshot and the census each add up to 57,941 CNPJs, with no difference in any network.
What this figure does not show
- The snapshot contains only establishments with the trade name filled in. In the full database, the share of active establishments with the field filled in is 69.9% in May 2023 and 28.1% in October 2026. The decline is concentrated in CNPJs with an MEI election, whose trade name the May 2023 file still included and later files largely stopped including, as the trade name completion table shows.
- The universe is today's, and inclusion requires at least 30 CNPJs in the profile, which selects networks that survived and grew. The result is the evolution of the measured networks, not of franchising as a whole.
- The expression is the current one. Units with an older spelling and networks that changed their name are undercounted in the first snapshots.
- Counting by trade name includes namesakes and leaves out units with another name. A CNPJ does not necessarily equal an operating unit, and a CNPJ classified as inapt stops counting in the stock without necessarily being closed.
- The interval between snapshots is uneven (29 months, 12 months).
Frequently asked questions
Are franchise networks growing?
In the 503 networks measured by the observatory, the stock of active CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) changed by +16.1% from May 2023 to October 2026 and by -1.6% in the last year, and 50.4% of the comparable networks grew by more than 10% in the period. The universe is that of the networks existing today, which raises the result.
How many of the franchise networks measured today have shrunk since 2023?
Of the 466 networks measured today that had at least 5 CNPJs in May 2023, 25.5% have, in October 2026, a stock more than 10% smaller, according to the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry). The set starts from the networks active today with at least 30 CNPJs, which leaves out those that closed or shrank below that floor. Starting from the 437 networks that had at least 30 active CNPJs in May 2023, including those that shrank later, 39.1% declined by more than 10%, as shown by the indicator of shrinking networks.
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Maintained by Marktech, which serves franchise networks and franchises. The brands cited belong to their owners and are mentioned here only to identify the network the data refers to.