U.S. Traffic Up 2Q/18, But Mixed Globally

Visits to quick-service restaurants in the U.S. fueled a slight rise in traffic during the second quarter, according to NPD, but numbers were more mixed overseas.

Domestically, a 1% bump in QSR visits versus the prior year pushed overall U.S. traffic to gains just below 1% for the market as a whole. The same number held true at both midscale and casual-dining concepts; both saw traffic declines of 1%, the smallest declines in more than two years. Fine-dining saw a 1% gain.

Among the baker’s dozen of major global foodservice markets tracked by NPD for the second quarter, seven saw gains in visits while six were flat or negative. Russia, which has seen healthy traffic for some time, led all 13 markets, with traffic jumping 7%. Visits were up 2% in Canada. In Europe, Italy and France had good quarters while traffic was flat in the U.K, Germany and Spain.

Traffic rose slightly in Australia, but fell 1% in both Japan and Korea. Visits in China rose 2%, though spending fell slightly.