INFOGRAPHIC: The Pandemic's Toll on the U.S. Restaurant Industry

Anyone in the restaurant industry knows, 2020 has been the most challenging year to run an eatery in our lifetimes. So far, more than 100,000 restaurants have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and millions of people have lost their jobs.

And while there is light at the end of the tunnel -- with both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being approved by the FDA -- it’s still going to be a long road to get everyone vaccinated and people feeling safe about returning to bars and restaurants.

Recently, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) wrote a letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to reach an agreement on a second coronavirus relief package and to formulate a plan to help protect the restaurant industry. The NRA has said the restaurant industry has been in an “economic free fall” since lockdowns started mid-March.

You will find more infographics at Statista

The NRA cited a survey of 6,000 restaurant operators, of which 87% of the full-service restaurants reporting an average of 36% sales drop, and that 10,000 restaurants have closed in the US the past three months. This has resulted in a lost of $130 billion between March and October 2020, while the industry is expected to see a $240 billion loss in all of 2020.

"What these findings make clear is that more than 500,000 restaurants of every business type—franchise, chain, and independent—are in an economic free fall," said Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for Public Affairs in the letter. "And for every month that passes without a solution from Congress, thousands more restaurants will close their doors for good."

And it’s not just new restaurants that are getting hit hard. The NRA also reports that 16% of restaurants that have permanently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions were well established businesses in their communities and had been operating for at least 30 years.

The NRA’s survey also found that 2.1 million restaurant employees have lost their jobs between February and November of this year, and that 57% of chain and independent full-service operators expect continued furloughs and layoffs for at least the next three months.

In short: 2020 has been an absolute struggle and the start of 2021 is also going to be tough. We’ll continue to try to help you manage your business as best we can during all this, but don’t hesitate to reach out with questions (or to just vent).

---