McDonald's plans to open roughly 10,000 new locations, with 50,000 worldwide by 2027

McDonald's announced plans to open an additional 10,000 restaurants around the world over the next four years, in what will be the fastest period of growth in the company's history.

The announcement came Wednesday during a McDonald's investor update. According to a press release from McDonald's, which is already the world's largest burger chain, the company is targeting to have 50,000 restaurants by 2027.

McDonald's says it already operates at least 40,000 locations globally.

Of the new restaurants, 900 will be in the U.S., while 1,900 will be international, company operated and franchised stores in Canada, Germany, the U.K. and Australia. An additional 7,000 stores will open internationally that are operated by licensees, the Associated Press reported, with more than half of those store in China.

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McDonald's also announced an ambitious goal for its rewards app, MyMcDonald's Rewards: expanding it from 150 million to 250 million 90-day active users by 2027.

According to the Wednesday release, 17 "classic" McDonald's menu items are billion-dollar brands, and core menu items including the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets and french fries represent about 65% of systemwide sales.

Also coming soon: McCrispy

McDonald's said its chicken business today is on par with its beef business, and the company plans to offer the McCrispy chicken sandwich in nearly all markets around the world by the end of 2025, and to expand McCrispy into wraps and tenders.