Restaurant Sales Projected to Reach a Record $537 Billion in '07: NRA

DECEMBER 13, 2006 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record $537 billion in 2007--a solid 5.0 percent increase over 2006 sales, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2007 Restaurant Industry Forecast, released yesterday. These new figures reveal that Americans are now spending 47.9 percent of their food budget in restaurants, the forecast noted.

But the good news for retailers: The report suggests that U.S. consumers are "starting to take back their mealtimes," with 36 percent of adults saying they are eating on the go less frequently now than they did two years ago.

The nation's 935,000 restaurant-and-foodservice outlets are expected to employ 12.8 million individuals, and add two million new career and employment opportunities in the next decade, according to the forecast.

"The restaurant industry will enter its 16th consecutive year of real growth in 2007, and will have a total economic impact that will exceed $1.3 trillion," said Steven C. Anderson, president and c.e.o. of the association, in a statement.

In addition to economic and workforce trends, the 2007 Restaurant Industry Forecast also identified consumer and menu trends, including: