Today, the International Franchise Association (IFA) released its annual Economic Outlook Report detailing the franchise industry’s projected economic forecast for 2020. The Report offers an in-depth look into franchising’s growth trend from 2016-2019, as well as a state outlook for all 50 states and Washington D.C. Conducted by FRANdata, the Report forecasts how the franchise industry is expected to continue riding the economic boom in 2020, despite growing uncertainty around the economy.

“The franchise industry is responsible for creating tens of thousands of opportunities for small business ownership across the country and millions of jobs for Americans,” said Robert Cresanti, IFA’s President & CEO.

“The franchise industry continues to pride itself on its positive impacts on communities across America. We are very excited to showcase these opportunities in our annual Economic Outlook Report. Locally-owned franchise are America’s hidden small businesses and this new report demonstrates their impact nationwide and, in every state,” continued Cresanti.

Some quick facts highlighted in the report:

  • Franchise industry forecasted to add 232,000 jobs in 2020, growing total employees to 8.67 million
  • The number of franchised businesses in the U.S. is forecasted to grow by 1.5% this year, to a total of 785,316 establishments

  • Overall GDP contribution by the franchise industry is forecasted to grow by 4.6%, to $494.96 billion
  • The states that will see the most franchise establishments and employment growth in 2020 ranked in order are: Texas, Colorado, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Nevada.

  • Overall, franchise business development will continue to increase in the South and West due to growing populations, state-level economic policies and favorable business tax climates.

“Without a doubt, franchising plays a major role in our economy and we forecast that most franchise businesses will sustain robust growth in 2020,” said Darrell Johnson, CEO of FRANdata. “Our team produced an insight-driven forecast for 2020 based on detailed analysis of economic and industry performance trends.”

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