Rules and transparency
Active CNPJs with the brand name equal 50% of the units declared by the networks, in 553 networks, and the website's locator, 91%, in 410 of them
Active CNPJs with the brand name as a share of declared units, median of 553 networks, in October 2026
See the full table (8 rows)
| Segment | Networks | CNPJs per declared unit, median | 95% interval | Networks with a locator | Locator per declared unit | CNPJs per locator store |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fashion and accessories | 71 | 0.61 | 0.44 to 0.67 | 55 | 1.00 | 0.60 |
| Health, beauty and wellness | 104 | 0.57 | 0.51 to 0.71 | 86 | 0.90 | 0.86 |
| Food | 136 | 0.55 | 0.52 to 0.60 | 97 | 0.91 | 0.73 |
| Education | 34 | 0.47 | 0.33 to 0.59 | 27 | 0.82 | 0.78 |
| Gyms and sports | 24 | 0.44 | 0.25 to 0.64 | 20 | 0.99 | 0.60 |
| Food, retail and distribution | 39 | 0.35 | 0.17 to 0.53 | 24 | 0.95 | 0.57 |
| Services and other businesses | 140 | 0.35 | 0.28 to 0.44 | 100 | 0.86 | 0.52 |
| Tourism and hospitality | 5 | 0.11 | 0.03 to 0.69 | 1 | fewer than 5 networks | fewer than 5 networks |
Ratio by network sizeSize by the geometric mean between declared units and active CNPJs.
| Size | Networks | CNPJs per declared unit, median | 95% interval | Networks with a locator | Locator per declared unit | CNPJs per locator store |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 30 units | 210 | 0.45 | 0.36 to 0.53 | 155 | 0.95 | 0.62 |
| 31 to 100 units | 211 | 0.50 | 0.47 to 0.55 | 160 | 0.88 | 0.71 |
| 101 to 300 units | 103 | 0.51 | 0.38 to 0.58 | 71 | 0.89 | 0.75 |
| Above 300 units | 29 | 0.62 | 0.52 to 0.78 | 24 | 0.96 | 0.77 |
Observable characteristics associated with the differenceFactor on the ratio between CNPJs and the declared number, with the other characteristics, segment and size controlled. A value below 1 indicates a lower ratio when the characteristic is present. The association does not prove the cause in each network, and 1 of the 8 characteristics have an adjusted p below 0.05.
| Observable characteristic | Networks | Median ratio with the characteristic | Median ratio without the characteristic | Factor | 95% interval | adjusted p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text or page cites units or presence abroad | 49 | 0.38 | 0.51 | 0.76 | 0.57 to 1.01 | 0.244 |
| Text cites units sold, launched or being set up | 14 | 0.44 | 0.50 | 0.67 | 0.36 to 1.24 | 0.606 |
| Declared number refers to franchisees | 25 | 0.36 | 0.50 | 0.80 | 0.52 to 1.23 | 0.614 |
| Locator lists units with future openings | 77 | 0.56 | 0.49 | 1.28 | 1.07 to 1.54 | 0.055 |
| Network offers a format without a fixed location, self-service or microfranchise | 87 | 0.29 | 0.53 | 0.57 | 0.44 to 0.76 | below 0.001 |
| Network belongs to a group with other brands | 132 | 0.49 | 0.51 | 0.82 | 0.68 to 0.98 | 0.169 |
| Census records an undercount due to another trade name | 22 | 0.15 | 0.51 | 0.50 | 0.30 to 0.84 | 0.055 |
| Branches are 20% or more of active CNPJs | 90 | 0.52 | 0.50 | 1.09 | 0.88 to 1.35 | 0.614 |
The number of units a network states on its franchise page, the stores listed in the locator on the same website and the active CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) with the brand's trade name measure different things, and comparing them shows the reach of each source. In 553 networks with 10 or more declared units, the active CNPJs in October 2026 equal, at the median, 50% of the declared number (95% interval from 47% to 53%). Among the 270 networks with 30 or more CNPJs, the ratio is 58%. The two numbers have a rank correlation of 0.69, so they track the same size on different scales.
In the 410 networks with a collected locator, the locator equals 91% of the declared number and the CNPJs equal 69% of the locator, which separates the two gaps. In the 493 networks with at least 30 addresses in the locator, with no requirement of a declared number, the ratio between CNPJs and locator has a median of 61%, as shown by the registry adherence indicator. The first gap compares two pieces of information from the network itself, with a rank correlation of 0.91. The second reflects, among other factors, the limit of counting by trade name, because units registered without that field or under another name are not included. In 20.1% of the networks the ratio between CNPJs and the declared number falls between 0.8 and 1.25, in 48.8% it falls below 0.5 and in 3.3% it is above 1.25.
The difference may stem from the composition of the declared number, which may add up company-owned and franchised stores, units sold and not yet opened, operations abroad and other brands of the group, and from registration, since a franchisee may keep a CNPJ without a trade name or under its own name, a business under MEI (individual microentrepreneur regime) rarely fills in that field, and formats without a fixed location or based on self-service do not need one CNPJ per unit. The data do not allow these causes to be separated from outdated information or error, and 71.8% of the excerpts give a floor, such as more than 100 units. In the regression with segment and size controlled, 1 of the 8 observable characteristics retains a difference after correction for the number of tests, that of formats without a fixed location, self-service or microfranchise (0.57 times the ratio of the others, interval from 0.44 to 0.76). In the 205 networks without any of these observable characteristics, the median ratio is 54%, so the observable characteristics account for a small part of the total difference, and the remainder has no identified cause in this indicator.
How we calculate
The declared number comes from a verbatim excerpt of the network's page, read on November 8, 2026. Included are networks with 10 or more declared units and with an active CNPJ attributed by the census, in the same count used in the network profile, with the trade name and the expected CNAE (national classification of economic activities). Excluded are 25 networks with a descriptive name, which have no Receita Federal (the federal tax authority) count, 74 without an attributed active CNPJ and 45 with fewer than 10 declared units, in which the ratio swings with one unit more or less. The count with all CNAEs has a median ratio of 56%. The locator is the list of stores on the network's own website, without duplicate addresses, collected when the website allows it.
We calculate the ratio per network and publish the median, with a 95% interval by resampling. The size band uses the geometric mean between the declared number and CNPJs, because a band based on the declared number would make the ratio fall by construction in the highest bands. The observable characteristics come from the excerpt, the page and the registry, and are tested together in a regression of the logarithm of the ratio, with segment and size as controls, robust standard errors and Holm correction across the 8 characteristics.
What this figure does not show
- The indicator does not measure the veracity of the declared number. Declaration, locator and CNPJ each have their own criteria, and none of the three counts is taken as correct. The aggregate does not allow the difference to be attributed to any network, and no network is named on this page or in the data file.
- A CNPJ does not equal a unit. The count by trade name includes namesakes, which push the ratio up, and omits units under another name, which push it down. The 3.3% of networks with more than 1.25 CNPJ per declared unit may result from namesakes, an outdated page or a declared floor.
- The date of the declared number is the date the page was read, and the text does not always state when it was written. The observable characteristics depend on what the excerpt says, and a network that includes operations abroad without mentioning them appears without that characteristic.
- Only 553 of the 1,931 networks with a page read state the number and have an attributed CNPJ, and those that state it may differ from those that do not. The locator covers 410 of them, and cells with fewer than 5 networks are not published.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a franchise's number of units differ from its number of CNPJs?
At the median of 553 franchise networks, active CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) with the brand name equal 50% of the units declared by the networks. A network may add up company-owned stores, units sold and not yet opened, operations abroad and other brands of the group, and a franchisee may keep a CNPJ without a trade name or under another name. The data do not allow these causes to be separated from outdated information or error.
Does the store locator confirm the number of units a franchise reports?
In the 410 franchise networks with a collected locator, the list of stores on the website equals, at the median, 91% of the number declared on the franchise page, and the CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) with the brand name equal 69% of the locator stores.
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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.