Brazil closed the last quarter of 2022 with a total of 63,800 franchises. The number is 12.6% higher than that recorded in the same period of 2021 (56,663), according to data released today (9), by the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF).
The organization also highlighted that the sector has recovered the level it maintained before the Covid-19 pandemic, in terms of revenue. In 2019, when the health crisis had not yet erupted, the segment earned BRL 186.7 billion. Last year, revenue was BRL 211.4 billion, 14.3% above the amount reached in 2021, of BRL 185 billion.
According to the association’s calculations, each franchise unit generates, on average, nine direct jobs. The sector generated 1,589,276 jobs in 2022, an increase of 12.6% compared to 2021 (1,411,319 jobs).
Even compared to 2019, there was a jump of 17%. That year, franchises accounted for 1,358,139 formal job openings.
For economics professor Mauro Sayar, the expansion of franchises during the pandemic is linked to the search by Brazilians for solutions, when faced with a drop in income and unemployment.
“Some of this growth in franchising in units is perhaps related, first, to this perspective of trying to seek alternatives in such an adverse context. And second, to rethink their own career, their own dynamics”, said the professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
For this year, the expectation is that revenues grow between 9.5% and 12%. As for the employability of the sector, a growth of 10% is also expected, the same level estimated for operations.