Market Research Companies in Colombia

Key figures for researchers

Population

about 53 million (2025 estimate)¹

2018 census

48.26 million people (final result, including omission adjustment)²

Urban / rural

77.1% in municipal centres, 7.1% in villages, 15.8% in dispersed rural areas (2018)³

Bogotá

7.1 million people (2018 census)³

Aged 60 and over

13.2% (2018), projected 24.6% in 2050¹

Household size

3.08 people on average (2018 census)³

Internet users

79.3% of people aged 5+; 84.6% urban, 61.7% rural (2024)⁴

Households with internet

65.6% (2024)⁴

Mobile subscriptions

174 per 100 people (2024)⁵

GDP per capita

about US$8,560 (2025)⁶

Research guide

Research landscape

Colombia has a well-established research industry, with Bogotá as the main business centre and strong activity in Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla. Full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative, fieldwork, panel and public opinion firms. The industry association is ACEI (Asociación Colombiana de Empresas de Investigación de Mercados y Opinión Pública); the global reference is the ICC/ESOMAR International Code (2016 edition).

Political and electoral surveys follow specific rules. Law 2494 of 2025 applies to any published study on political or electoral preferences, whatever its name or method: only firms registered with the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) may carry out electoral surveys for publication, registrations are renewed every three years, a technical summary sheet must be published, and non-probability polls on voting intention cannot be published. Studies on other topics are outside its scope.

Languages and fieldwork

Spanish (castellano) is the official language and the fieldwork language for almost all studies; under the Constitution, the languages of ethnic groups are also official in their territories. Studies in indigenous territories may need local-language interviewers and specific access arrangements.

Many consumer studies use the estratos socioeconómicos as a quota variable. Officially, this is a classification of residential properties (not of household income) into six strata, carried out by each municipality with a DANE methodology, used to set utility charges: strata 1 to 3 (low-low, low, lower-middle) receive subsidies, stratum 4 (middle) pays the cost, and strata 5 and 6 (upper-middle, high) pay surcharges. Colombia is mostly urban (77.1% of people live in municipal centres) but 15.8% live in dispersed rural areas, and households have 3.08 people on average (2018 census).

Which methods work

In 2024, 79.3% of people aged five and over used the internet and 90.6% used a mobile phone; 97.5% of internet users go online with a smartphone, and there are 174 mobile subscriptions per 100 people. Online surveys using access panels are widely used for urban consumer targets, and questionnaires must work well on a phone.

The gap between urban and rural areas is large: 84.6% of people use the internet in municipal centres but 61.7% in rural areas, and only 41.9% of rural households have an internet connection (72.5% in urban areas). Face-to-face interviews (household, intercept or central location) and telephone surveys (CATI) remain needed for national, rural and lower-strata samples. Focus groups are usually held in viewing facilities in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla.

Timing

Colombia has 19 public holidays in 2027. Under the Ley Emiliani (Law 51 of 1983), several holidays move to the following Monday, creating 11 long weekends (“puentes”) in 2027, including 11 January, 22 March, 10 and 31 May, 7 June, 5 and 12 July, 16 August, 18 October, and 1 and 15 November. Plan fieldwork and recruitment around these Mondays. Semana Santa (Holy Week) runs from 21 to 28 March 2027, with Holy Thursday and Good Friday (25 and 26 March) as holidays.

The December–January holiday season is the main period to avoid: in Bogotá, public school students are on holiday from 30 November 2026 to 11 January 2027. Bogotá public schools also have a mid-year break (22 June to 6 July in 2026) and a one-week recess in October; school calendars are set by each certified territorial entity, so dates vary between cities.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by Law 1581 of 2012, supervised by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC) through its delegate office for personal data protection. Processing requires the prior and informed authorisation of the data subject, obtained in a way that can be checked later. When asking for it, respondents must be told the purpose, and that answering questions on sensitive data (such as health or ethnic origin) or on minors is optional. The processing of children’s and adolescents’ data is heavily restricted.

Transfers of personal data to countries without an adequate level of protection are prohibited, with exceptions such as the data subject’s express and unequivocal authorisation. The SIC can impose fines of up to 2,000 monthly minimum wages, suspend processing for up to six months or close operations, and it keeps the public National Database Register (RNBD). Ask your agency how authorisation is collected and recorded, and where the data is hosted.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, cities and regions, strata, method and deadline.
• Agree on quotas by city, stratum, age and gender, and on whether rural areas are covered.
• Ask which panels or fieldwork teams will be used, and how back-checks, supervision and fraud checks are done.
• Check Law 1581 compliance: how authorisation is collected, data security, retention and any transfer outside Colombia.
• For any political or electoral question, check that the firm is registered with the CNE.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.