McDonalds has experienced its first global sales drop in four years as the post-pandemic cost-of-living roller coast continues.
The food giant reported that global comparable annual sales feel by one percent in the second quarter of 2024.
The United States was down 0.7 percent and international markets were down 1.1 percent.
This was the first sales fall since 2020 when COVID-19 disruptions caused a large drop followed by a spike recovery a year later.
In a statement, Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said consumers were becoming more discriminating with their spending.
The company was, however, confident it had the “right playbook” for the business.
“We are focused on the outstanding execution of delivering reliable, everyday value and accelerating strategic growth drivers like chicken and loyalty,” Mr Kempczinski.
Mr Kempczinski told analysts that the company’s “value leadership gap” had declined and the company needed to re-enforce its affordability credentials.
McDonalds operates more than 41,000 restaurants in over 100 companies around the world.
Bloomberg reported that McDonalds Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden had warned of further weakness as the company restricted price increases due to tight consumer budgets.
“We don’t expect that we’re going to see a change in that environment over the next few quarters,” Mr Borden told Bloomberg.
The full financial statement is on the McDonalds website.
