Market Research Companies in Madagascar

Key figures for researchers

Population

25.7 million (2018 census)¹

Projected population

30.8 million (2024, INSTAT projection)²

Regions

22 (2018 census)¹

Urban population

4.9 million people, about 1 in 5 (2018 census)¹

Largest region

Analamanga, 3.6 million people (2018 census)¹

Under 15

42% of the population (2021, INSTAT)³

Official languages

Malagasy and French (Constitution, art. 4)⁴

Internet users

18.7% of individuals (2024)⁵

Mobile subscriptions

75 per 100 people (2023)⁶

GDP per capita

about US$600 (2025)⁷

Research guide

Research landscape

Most market research agencies are based in Antananarivo, the capital. Local independent agencies work alongside offices of international research networks.

Surveys run by public bodies, private bodies with a public-service mission or international organisations need a statistical visa from the National Statistics Council before fieldwork (Law No. 2018-004 on statistics), and results of an operation run without the required visa are void. Purely commercial studies are not named in the law, but check with your agency if your study is commissioned by such a body.

Languages and fieldwork

The national language is Malagasy, and the official languages are Malagasy and French. Malagasy is the language of fieldwork for the general public: in Afrobarometer’s 2022 national survey, 1,199 of 1,200 interviews were conducted in Malagasy, and 52.8% of respondents spoke a regional variety of Malagasy at home rather than official Malagasy. Questionnaires are usually written in official Malagasy, with interviewers who know local wording in each region. French is common in business, for B2B and executive interviews.

Only about one person in five lived in urban areas at the 2018 census: a nationally representative sample needs rural fieldwork across the 22 regions. The main urban districts were Antananarivo (1.27 million people in 2018), Toamasina (0.33 million), Antsirabe (0.25 million) and Mahajanga (0.25 million). Fieldwork outside the main cities takes longer: allow time and budget for travel to rural areas.

Which methods work

Connectivity is limited: 18.7% of individuals use the internet and there are 75 mobile subscriptions per 100 people. Online surveys only reach a small, mostly urban and educated part of the population, and are mainly suited to B2B, urban professionals and young urban targets.

For the general population, face-to-face interviews (CAPI or paper) with quotas by region, area type, age and gender remain the reference. Telephone interviews (CATI) can work for urban targets but under-represent rural and poorer households. Focus groups are usually held in Antananarivo, and in regional cities such as Toamasina or Mahajanga when regional groups are needed.

Timing

The cyclone season runs from November to April, and Météo Madagascar’s 2024-2025 outlook placed the core of the rainy season from December to February. Cyclones and heavy rain can delay fieldwork, especially in rural areas: for national face-to-face studies, May to October is usually easier.

Independence Day (National Day, 26 June) is the main national celebration, and in 2026 it gave a long weekend. Plan also around Christmas and New Year, Easter and the other public holidays, when respondents and business targets are harder to reach.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by Law No. 2014-038 on the protection of personal data, supervised by the CMIL (Commission Malagasy sur l’Informatique et des Libertés). The law requires a prior declaration to the CMIL for most processing, prior consent of the person concerned in most cases, stricter conditions for sensitive data, and transfers abroad only to countries with a sufficient level of protection or with the person’s informed consent.

Implementation is recent: the CMIL’s members were sworn in on 4 August 2025, and in February 2026 the commission was still setting up its structures and described implementation of the law as partial. Ask your agency how respondents give consent, whether the processing has been declared to the CMIL and how the data will be transferred to you.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, regions, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask who does the fieldwork: own interviewers or subcontractors, in which regions, and how travel to rural areas is organised and budgeted.
• Ask about quality control: back-checks, GPS or audio checks for face-to-face interviews, supervision of CATI calls.
• Check whether the study needs a statistical visa, and how personal data is handled under Law 2014-038, especially if data leaves Madagascar.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.