Market Research Companies in Rome

Key figures for researchers

Population

2,745,062 residents (1 January 2026, ISTAT provisional)¹

Metropolitan city

4,224,901 residents (1 January 2026, ISTAT provisional)²

Districts

15 municipi³

Area

1,288 km², divided into 155 urban zones (2021)⁴

Foreign residents

354,086, or 12.9% of residents (1 January 2025)⁵

Main foreign nationalities

Romania 71,715, Philippines 37,504, Bangladesh 35,139 (1 January 2025)⁵

Foreign residents by area

234.5 per 1,000 residents in Esquilino, 312.5 in Grottarossa Ovest (2021)⁴

Average age

47.0 years (1 January 2025)⁶

Aged 65 and over

658,871 residents; 202.8 people aged 65+ for every 100 under 15 (1 January 2025)⁶

Research guide

Research landscape

Rome is, with Milan, one of the main centres of the Italian research industry: full-service agencies, qualitative specialists, B2B and healthcare firms, field and telephone networks, panel providers and viewing facilities. As the capital, Rome is home to the national government, ministries and many public bodies, which makes it a main location for public sector, institutional and social research.

Who you will interview

Rome has an older population: the average age is 47.0 and there are 202.8 residents aged 65 and over for every 100 under 15 (1 January 2025). For older targets, plan telephone or in-person interviews alongside online panels, and set quotas on Rome figures, not national ones.

On 1 January 2025, 354,086 residents (12.9%) were foreign citizens. The largest groups are Romanians (71,715, about one foreign resident in five), Filipinos (37,504) and Bangladeshis (35,139), followed by Chinese and Ukrainian residents. Shares differ a lot by area: in 2021 there were 234.5 foreign residents per 1,000 inhabitants in Esquilino and 312.5 in Grottarossa Ovest. Italian is the fieldwork language; translated questionnaires or bilingual interviewers help when foreign residents matter.

Fieldwork in practice

The city covers 1,288 km², split into 15 municipi (districts) and 155 urban zones (zone urbanistiche), the largest of which, Torre Angela, had nearly 85,000 residents in 2021. Sampling or quotas by municipio help control the spread of interviews, and travel times between areas are long, so face-to-face work needs careful planning.

Decide early whether the target is the city (2.75 million residents) or the metropolitan city (4.22 million, 1 January 2026): for workers, shoppers or commuters, a city-only sample may miss part of the target. Online panels are the main method for consumer surveys, with telephone or in-person interviews for older and offline audiences (see the Italy guide for internet use and telephone rules).

Focus groups and qualitative research

In-person focus groups are usually held in dedicated viewing facilities with a one-way mirror and video streaming. Check how easy the facility is to reach by public transport for evening groups, and whether respondents from outer municipi or the wider metropolitan city are included.

Ask the agency for its Rome incentive levels and recruitment lead times, especially for public sector, B2B or senior respondents, who often prefer online interviews. Online communities and video interviews are widely used, alone or alongside in-person groups.

Timing

Summer is long: in 2026/27, lessons in Lazio run from 15 September 2026 to 8 June 2027. 15 August (the Assumption, known as Ferragosto) is a national holiday in the middle of this period: avoid August for B2B and family targets. Christmas school holidays run from 23 December 2026 to 6 January 2027 and Easter holidays from 25 to 30 March 2027.

29 June (Saints Peter and Paul, Rome’s patron saints) is a local holiday: public offices, most post offices, courts and many bank branches close, and many private offices close too, depending on their collective agreement. 4 October (Saint Francis of Assisi) is also in the list of national holidays.

Working with a Rome agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, city or metropolitan city, municipi, method, languages and deadline.
• For face-to-face or recruitment, ask how the agency covers outer municipi, older residents and foreign communities.
• For focus groups, ask for the facility address, viewing room capacity, streaming options and incentive levels.
• Check the fieldwork dates against August, 29 June and the Christmas and Easter school holidays.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 Rome companies from this page.

National rules (data protection, holidays, sampling across regions) are covered in our guide to market research in Italy.