Market Research Companies in Angola

Key figures for researchers

Population

36,604,681 (2024 census, 19 September 2024)¹

Luanda province

8,816,297 people, the most populous province (2024 census)¹

Urban population

65.5%, or 23.99 million people (2024 census)¹

Young population

40.4% aged 0 to 14; 62% under 25 (2024 census)²

Households

9,110,616, 3.9 people on average (2024 census)¹

Mother tongue

Portuguese 45.5%, Umbundu 17.1%, Kimbundu 10.8%, Chokwe 6.9%, Kikongo 6.8% (2024 census)²

Literacy

72.6% of people aged 15+ (urban 86.1%, rural 43.5%) (2024 census)¹

Electricity

48.6% of households have access (urban 68.9%, rural 8.5%) (2024 census)¹

Internet users

40.7% of individuals (2024)⁴

GDP per capita

about US$3,100 (2025)⁵

Research guide

Research landscape

Luanda is the business centre of Angola: Luanda province had 8,816,297 inhabitants at the 2024 census, and seven of the ten most populous municipalities are in Luanda. After Luanda, six provinces have more than 2 million inhabitants each: Huíla, Huambo, Benguela, Cuanza Sul, Bié and Uíge. National studies often add cities such as Huambo, Benguela, Lobito and Lubango to Luanda. Since the 2024 administrative reform, the country has 21 provinces.

A common quality reference is the ICC/ESOMAR International Code, revised in 2025 (fifth edition) and endorsed by over 60 associations in more than 50 countries. Its principles include honesty and transparency, care for participants, and clear information on how personal data will be collected, used and protected.

Languages and fieldwork

Portuguese is the official language under Article 19 of the Constitution, which also says the State values and promotes the other languages of Angola. At the 2024 census, Portuguese was the mother tongue of 45.5% of the population, followed by Umbundu (17.1%), Kimbundu (10.8%), Chokwe (6.9%) and Kikongo (6.8%). Questionnaires are usually written in Portuguese, but interviewers who speak the main local language of each province help outside Luanda and with older or rural respondents.

The population is very young: 40.4% are aged 0 to 14 and 62% are under 25. Literacy among people aged 15 and over is 72.6%, but only 43.5% in rural areas, so interviewer-administered questionnaires and simple show cards are needed for rural samples. With 65.5% of people in urban areas, a national sample needs quotas by province and urban/rural area.

Which methods work

Internet use is still limited: 40.7% of individuals used the internet in 2024. Online surveys can reach younger, educated and urban audiences in Luanda and other large cities, but they are not representative of the whole population.

Face-to-face interviews (often on tablets) remain the main method for national and rural studies, with telephone interviews used for some urban and B2B targets. Only 48.6% of households have access to electricity, and 8.5% in rural areas: plan for device charging and offline data collection in the field. In-person focus groups are usually held in Luanda.

Timing

National holidays include 1 January, 4 February, 8 March, 23 March, Carnival, 4 April, Good Friday, 1 May, 17 September, 2 November, 11 November (Independence Day) and 25 December. Under the holiday law, when a national holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, the Monday before or the Friday after becomes a day off (“ponte”, bridge).

In 2027, this gives long weekends around 4–5 February, Carnival (8–9 February), 22–23 March, Good Friday (26 March), 1–2 November and 11–12 November. Avoid the Christmas and New Year period and check the government’s announcements on bridge days before fixing fieldwork dates.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by Law No. 22/11 of 17 June 2011 on the Protection of Personal Data, supervised by the Agência de Protecção de Dados (APD), created by Presidential Decree No. 214/16 of 10 October 2016, whose governing bodies took office in October 2019. Processing requires the unequivocal and express consent of the person, and written consent for sensitive data such as health, ethnic origin, religion or political opinions. Processing must also be notified to the APD (one notification per purpose; the APD has 30 days to respond), and some processing needs its prior authorisation.

Transfers of personal data abroad must be notified to the APD when the destination country offers adequate protection, and need its authorisation otherwise. The APD enforces these rules: it imposed about US$2.5 million in fines on 15 companies between 2022 and July 2026, including for storing customer data in a cloud outside the country without authorisation. Data used for statistical purposes should be anonymised. Ask your agency whether its processing is notified to the APD and where survey data is stored.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, provinces and urban/rural split, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask whether the agency follows the ICC/ESOMAR International Code and how interviews are checked (back-checks, GPS, recordings).
• Ask which provinces its field teams cover, which local languages its interviewers speak and how rural areas will be reached.
• Check that the processing of personal data is notified to the APD, and that any transfer of data outside Angola is notified or authorised.
• Agree in writing what anonymised data you will receive, where it is stored and for how long.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.