Market Research Companies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Key figures for researchers

Population

3,531,159 (2013 census); about 3.42 million (mid-2023 estimate)¹

Population by area

Federation of BiH 2,219,220, Republika Srpska 1,228,423, Brčko District 83,516 (2013 census)²

Republika Srpska figure

the entity’s statistics institute publishes 1,170,342 usually resident people for Republika Srpska (2013)⁴

Largest cities

Sarajevo 275,524, Banja Luka 185,042, Tuzla 110,979 (2013 census)³

Internet use

90.1% of people aged 16–74; 88.2% of households have access at home (2025)⁵

GDP per capita

about US$10,380 (2025)⁶

Research guide

Research landscape

Bosnia and Herzegovina is often covered as part of multi-country studies in the Western Balkans. Local full-service agencies work alongside social and opinion research firms, field networks, telephone centres and online panel providers.

The country has two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (10 cantons, 79 municipalities) and Republika Srpska (62 municipalities), and the separate Brčko District. Sarajevo is the main business centre, and Banja Luka, Tuzla and Mostar are other usual locations for city samples and focus groups. Ask your agency which professional code it follows, such as the ICC/ESOMAR International Code (fifth edition, 2025 revision), which is mandatory for ESOMAR members.

Languages and fieldwork

Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian are the three official languages, and both the Latin and Cyrillic scripts are in official use at state level; Serbian is also written in Cyrillic. Agree with your agency which language versions and scripts respondents will see, especially for national samples covering both entities.

The last census took place in October 2013 and its final results were published by the Agency for Statistics (BHAS) in June 2016: 3,531,159 people. The Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics publishes a lower figure for its entity (1,170,342 usually resident people, against 1,228,423 in the BHAS results). BHAS estimated the population at about 3.42 million in mid-2023. Ask your agency which figures it uses for quotas, stratified by entity, canton or region and urban/rural area.

Which methods work

Connectivity is high: in 2025, 90.1% of people aged 16–74 had used the internet in the previous three months, and 88.2% of households had internet access at home. Online surveys using access panels are used for urban consumer targets, and mobile-friendly questionnaires are essential.

The official internet survey covers only people aged 16–74, and 8.7% of them had never used the internet: online samples can under-represent older people and rural areas. Telephone (CATI) and face-to-face interviews remain used for national representative samples, older people, rural areas and B2B decision makers.

Timing

Holidays differ by entity. In 2027, 1–2 January and Labour Day (1 May, with 3 May as an extra day off) are observed nationwide. Republika Srpska observes Orthodox Christmas (7 January), 9 January (Day of Republika Srpska), Orthodox Easter (30 April to 3 May) and 9 May (Victory Day); the Federation observes 1 March (Independence Day), Ramazanski Bajram (Eid al-Fitr, expected on 9 or 10 March, depending on the moon), Catholic Easter (28–29 March), Kurban Bajram (Eid al-Adha, expected on 16 or 17 May) and 25 November (Statehood Day). Brčko District marks 8 March (Establishment Day).

Religious feasts are local public holidays depending on the majority population of the canton or municipality, so check holidays for each fieldwork area. Avoid the New Year to Orthodox Christmas period, the Easter periods and Eid; for studies covering Muslim respondents, also allow for the month of Ramadan before Eid.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the new Law on the Protection of Personal Data (Official Gazette of BiH No. 12/25), adopted on 30 January 2025, which entered into force on 8 March 2025 and applies since 4 October 2025, after a 210-day period; it replaces a law enacted nearly 20 years earlier. To a large extent, it transposes the principles, concepts and structure of the EU GDPR. The supervisory authority is the Personal Data Protection Agency (Sarajevo).

Processing a child’s data on the basis of consent is lawful from the age of 16; below that, a parent or guardian must give or approve consent. Controllers not established in the country that offer goods or services to people in Bosnia and Herzegovina must, with exceptions, appoint a representative, and breaches must be notified to the Agency within 72 hours. Transfers abroad need an adequacy finding or appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses adopted by the Agency. Fines can reach BAM 40 million or 4% of total annual global turnover.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, entities and regions, method, languages and deadline.
• Agree on the language versions (Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian) and scripts (Latin, Cyrillic) of the questionnaire, translated and tested by native speakers.
• Ask which population figures and fieldwork suppliers will be used, and how quotas by entity, region, urban/rural area, age and gender are set and weighted.
• Check fieldwork dates against the holidays of each entity, canton or municipality covered.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, how data leaves the country if needed, and the retention period.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.