Market Research Companies in South Africa

Key figures for researchers

Population

63.1 million (mid-2025 estimate)¹

Largest provinces

Gauteng 16.1m, KwaZulu-Natal 12.2m, Western Cape 7.6m, Eastern Cape 7.1m (mid-2025)²

Population group

Black African 81.4%, Coloured 8.2%, White 7.3%, Indian/Asian 2.7% (2022 census)³

Official languages

12, including South African Sign Language since July 2023⁵

Language spoken at home

isiZulu 24.4%, isiXhosa 16.3%, Afrikaans 10.6%, Sepedi 10.0%, English 8.7%, Setswana 8.3%, Sesotho 7.8% (2022 census)⁴

Households

17.8 million; 88.5% in formal dwellings, 8.1% in informal dwellings (2022 census)³

Internet users

78.4% of individuals (2024)⁷

Mobile subscriptions

179 per 100 people (2024)⁹

Smartphone subscriptions

83.0 million (2025)⁸

GDP per capita

about US$6,600 (2025)¹⁰

Research guide

Research landscape

Most agencies are based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, from where many national and multi-country African studies are coordinated. Full-service agencies work alongside qualitative specialists, B2B and healthcare firms, panel providers and independent fieldwork teams that also cover neighbouring countries.

The industry association is SAMRA (South African Marketing Research Association), which runs an annual industry conference. Its code of conduct covers matters such as respondent consent, and SAMRA has long asked for a clear line between genuine research and selling under the guise of research.

Languages and fieldwork

South Africa has 12 official languages: South African Sign Language became the twelfth in July 2023. In the 2022 census, the most common home languages were isiZulu (24.4%), isiXhosa (16.3%), Afrikaans (10.6%) and Sepedi (10.0%); only 8.7% speak English most often at home. Questionnaires are usually written in English, but general public studies need translations and interviewers who can switch to the respondent’s language, which varies strongly by province.

In the 2022 census, about 56% of the population lived in three provinces: Gauteng (16.1 million people in 2025), KwaZulu-Natal (12.2 million) and the Western Cape (7.6 million). A national sample should still cover all nine provinces: Limpopo (31.8% of residents under 15) and the Eastern Cape (30.2%) are the youngest, and their rural areas need more travel time. Quotas often use population group and the SEM (Socio-Economic Measure), a 14-variable index built on Establishment Survey data that is replacing the old LSM (Living Standards Measure).

Door-to-door access ranges from gated security estates, where interviewers need permission or appointments, to townships and informal settlements (8.1% of households live in informal dwellings), where local recruiters and community introductions help. Ask the agency how it manages fieldworker safety in some areas: team work, daylight hours, tracking and transport.

Which methods work

Mobile is the main way people go online: 78.4% of individuals use the internet, there are 179 mobile subscriptions per 100 people and 4G covers 99.5% of the population (2025). In the 2022 census, 60.5% of households accessed the internet mainly through a cellphone, while only 17.4% had internet access at home in 2024. Mobile-first online surveys and WhatsApp or SMS invitations therefore reach most urban adults.

Data is still expensive for low-income households: a 2GB mobile data basket cost R152 in 2024, equal to 1.63% of monthly gross national income per person on ICASA’s affordability measure. Keep mobile surveys short and light, and consider airtime or data incentives. Since 21.1% of households had no internet access in 2022, telephone (CATI) and face-to-face (CAPI) interviews remain needed for lower-income, older and rural targets. In-person focus groups are usually held in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, with moderators who speak the respondents’ home language.

Timing

Avoid the December–January holiday period: the 2026 school year started on 14 January and ends on 9 December. School holidays fall around 28 March–7 April, 27 June–20 July and 24 September–5 October 2026. Public holidays include 21 March, Easter (3 and 6 April in 2026), 27 April, 1 May, 16 June, 9 August, 24 September, 16 and 25–26 December; a holiday falling on a Sunday moves to the Monday.

4 November 2026 is an extra public holiday for the local government elections: avoid political or sensitive topics during the campaign. Power cuts (load shedding) were long a fieldwork risk; Eskom reported 441 consecutive days without load shedding in August 2026, but agencies still plan backup power for CATI centres and facilities.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), enforced by the Information Regulator since 1 July 2021. Organisations must appoint and register an Information Officer. Race or ethnic origin, health, religious beliefs and political persuasion are special personal information: questions on population group or health need a legal basis, usually the respondent’s consent.

POPIA defines direct marketing as approaching a person to promote or offer goods or services, or to ask for a donation. Section 69 forbids doing this by unsolicited email, SMS or automated calls without consent (except for existing customers). A genuine survey is not direct marketing, but research contacts must never be reused for sales. Transfers of personal data abroad are allowed only with adequate protection (law, binding rules or agreement), consent, or in the other cases listed in section 72: ask where the data will be hosted.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, provinces, urban/rural split, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask which languages the interviewers and moderators cover, and whether quotas use SEM, population group or another measure.
• For face-to-face work, ask how the agency reaches security estates and townships and how it keeps fieldworkers safe.
• Ask how personal data is handled under POPIA, who the Information Officer is, and whether the agency is a SAMRA member.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.