Subway's US restaurant locations have hit their lowest level since 2005 as the company looks to sell – report

• Subway now has its lowest number of US restaurants since 2005, according to Restaurant Business.
• The company reportedly closed 571 restaurants in 2022 and operates more than 20,000 nationwide.
• Subway has been seeking a sale for months.

Subway closed 571 US locations in 2022, and the number of Subway restaurants in the country fell to 20,576, the lowest total since 2005, according to a report from Restaurant Business, which cites the sandwich chain's latest franchise disclosure document.

It said Subway's store-closing rate in 2022 was the lowest in six years.

As recently as 2015, there were more than 27,000 Subway stores in the US, the Washington Post reported. But more than 6,500 Subway restaurants have closed since 2016, or nearly one of every four restaurants in the country, according to Restaurant Business. 

Subway did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report comes as Subway seeks a buyer. Multiple media outlets have reported that the company wants a sale that values the chain at $10 billion.

The decision to sell the business came more than a year after the company's last surviving founder, Peter Buck, died in 2021. Subway is privately owned by its two founding families. In late January, Buck's foundation, where his two sons work, revealed that the late co-founder had left the charity his 50% stake in Subway . 

Despite previous years of slumping sales and closing stores, Subway, a privately held company, has recently gained some momentum. In the most recent quarter, global same-store sales surged by more than 12%, the chain said last month.

Do you work for Subway or have any thoughts about a potential sale? Contact reporter Ben Tobin on email at btobin@insider.com.