Size and presence
Fewer than half of franchisors have the CNAE class of franchisors as their primary activity
Share of the 643 active franchisors that publish their CNPJ with class 77.40-3 as the primary activity in the registry
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| Characteristic | Category | Franchisors | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary activity | Management of intangible assets (77.40-3) | 311 | 48.4% |
| Primary activity | Retail trade | 101 | 15.7% |
| Primary activity | Other activities | 69 | 10.7% |
| Primary activity | Manufacturing | 52 | 8.1% |
| Primary activity | Holding, consulting or administrative support | 43 | 6.7% |
| Primary activity | Health, beauty, sports and personal services | 29 | 4.5% |
| Primary activity | Wholesale trade | 20 | 3.1% |
| Primary activity | Education | 9 | 1.4% |
| Primary activity | Food | 9 | 1.4% |
| Class 77.40-3 | As primary or secondary activity | 454 | 70.6% |
| Legal nature | Limited liability company | 563 | 87.6% |
| Legal nature | Privately held corporation | 64 | 10.0% |
| Legal nature | Publicly held corporation | 9 | 1.4% |
| Size | Microenterprise | 189 | 29.4% |
| Size | Small enterprise | 115 | 17.9% |
| Size | Other sizes | 339 | 52.7% |
| Registration age | up to 5 years | 193 | 30.0% |
| Registration age | 6 to 10 years | 188 | 29.2% |
| Registration age | 11 to 20 years | 166 | 25.8% |
| Registration age | more than 20 years | 96 | 14.9% |
Class 77.40-3 of the CNAE (national classification of economic activities), management of non-financial intangible assets, is where the classification places the sale and licensing of franchises, and the sector's official statistics start from it, such as the number of local units of the class in the Cadastro Central de Empresas. The indicator checks how many franchisors are actually in this class, based on the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) that each network in the observatory's universe publishes on its own website.
Of the 643 active franchisors with a published CNPJ, 48.4% have class 77.40-3 as their primary activity and 70.6% have it as primary or secondary. The others declare another activity, mainly retail trade (15.7%) and other activities (10.7%), generally the same as that of the units or that of the factory that supplies the network. Statistics based only on the class therefore leave out about a third of franchisors.
The registry also describes the companies, of which 87.6% are limited liability companies, 11.4% are corporations and 52.7% fall outside the microenterprise and small enterprise size categories. The median registration age is 9 years, and 44.5% of franchisors are headquartered in the state of São Paulo.
How we calculate
We start from the CNPJ that each network in the observatory's universe publishes on its own website, in the footer, the privacy policy or the franchise page, recorded during curation with the page address. Each CNPJ is read in the open CNPJ data of Receita Federal (the federal tax authority), reference month October 2026, in the establishment and company files, which provide the primary and secondary activities, the legal nature, the size and the start-of-activity date. The 643 active CNPJs are included, except those of associations, which some networks publish instead of the franchisor's. The primary activity is grouped by division of the classification.
What this figure does not show
- Only networks that publish the franchisor's CNPJ on their website are included, 658 of the networks in the universe, and those that do not may have a different profile.
- The published CNPJ may be that of a holding company, of a company in the same group or of the factory, and not that of the company that signs the franchise contracts.
- The primary activity is declared by the company itself when it is opened and is not always updated when the business changes.
- Class 77.40-3 also covers the licensing of other brands and intangible assets, and being in it does not indicate that the company franchises.
- The age is that of the establishment in the registry, which may predate the creation of the franchise network.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CNAE code for franchisors?
The CNAE (national classification of economic activities) places the sale and licensing of franchises in class 77.40-3, management of non-financial intangible assets. Of the 643 franchisors with a published CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) tracked by the observatory, 48.4% have it as their primary activity.
Do all franchisors use CNAE 77.40-3?
No. 70.6% of the franchisors measured have the CNAE (national classification of economic activities) class of franchisors among their declared activities, and the others register another activity, such as retail or manufacturing.
What size are franchisors?
52.7% of the franchisors measured fall outside the microenterprise and small enterprise size categories, and 47.3% are microenterprises or small enterprises.
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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.