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See also: List of countries with McDonald's restaurants and International availability of McDonald's products

Countries with McDonald's restaurants, showing their first year with its first restaurant
McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the "McDonaldization" of society. The Economist newspaper uses the "Big Mac Index": the comparison of the cost of a Big Mac in various world currencies can be used to informally judge these currencies' purchasing power parity. Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of July 2015, while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India[159][160] (albeit for a Maharaja Mac—the next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong).[161] The northernmost McDonald's restaurant in the world is located in Rovaniemi, Finland (after the restaurant in Murmansk, Russia was closed in 2022)[162] and the southernmost in the world is located in Invercargill, New Zealand.[163]
Thomas Friedman said that no country with a McDonald's had gone to war with another;[164][165] however, the "Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention" is incorrect. Exceptions are the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, NATO‘s bombing of Serbia in 1999, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war. McDonald's suspended operations in its corporate-owned stores in Crimea after Russia annexed the region in 2014.[166] On August 20, 2014, as tensions between the United States and Russia strained over events in Ukraine, and the resultant U.S. sanctions, the Russian government temporarily shut down four McDonald's outlets in Moscow, citing sanitary concerns. The company has operated in Russia since 1990 and at August 2014 had 438 stores across the country.[167] On August 23, 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich ruled out any government move to ban McDonald's and dismissed the notion that the temporary closures had anything to do with the sanctions.[168]
Some observers have suggested that the company should be given credit for increasing the standard of service in markets that it enters. A group of anthropologists in a study entitled Golden Arches East[169] looked at the impact McDonald's had on East Asia and Hong Kong, in particular. When it opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald's was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions. McDonald's has taken to partnering up with Sinopec, the second largest oil company in the People's Republic of China, as it takes advantage of the country's growing use of personal vehicles by opening numerous drive-thru restaurants.[170] McDonald's has opened a McDonald's restaurant and McCafé on the underground premises of the French fine arts museum, The Louvre.[171]
The company stated it would open vegetarian-only restaurants in India by mid-2013.[172]
On January 9, 2017, 80% of the franchise rights in mainland China and in Hong Kong were sold for US$2.08 billion to a consortium of CITIC Limited (for 32%) and private equity funds managed by CITIC Capital (for 20%) and Carlyle (for 20%), which CITIC Limited and CITIC Capital would form a joint venture to own the stake.[173]
On March 8, 2022, McDonald's temporarily closed their 850 locations in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, but will continue to pay the salary for 62,000 employees. Approximately nine percent of global revenue and three percent of operating profit come from Russia and 100 location in Ukraine.[174][175][176]
On May 16, 2022, McDonald's announced that the closures would become permanent and that it was selling all its 850 stores in Russia. Furthermore, 32 years after McDonald’s entered the Soviet market, the American giant wants its current business to be "de-Arched", the company plans to retain its trademarks in Russia, meaning the locations would no longer be allowed to use the McDonald's name, logo, or menu. McDonald’s also said it would continue to pay its Russian employees until the sale is finalized. The company has more than 60,000 Russian employees.[177][178][179][180][181]
On June 10, 2022, a Russian McDonald's buyer announced a new logo as an attempt at rebranding. It featured one circle and two lines, which represented a burger and two French fries.[182] The business was rebranded as Vkusno i tochka, which roughly translates to "Tasty – Period." [183][184] [185]
McDonald's is to reopen its stores in Ukraine after closing them in February. However in non-contested areas like Kyiv and Western Ukraine. During the closure McDonald's has continued to pay it's employees, number some 10,000. Originally some 109 restaurants, it is unclear how many will reopen.