Market Research Companies in Turkey

Key figures for researchers

Population

86.1 million (31 December 2025)¹

Largest provinces

Istanbul 15.75m (18.3% of the population), Ankara 5.91m, Izmir 4.50m (2025)¹

Statistical regions

12 NUTS level 1 regions, 26 level 2 regions, provinces at level 3³

Median age

34.9 years (2025)¹

Aged 65 and over

11.1% of the population (2025)²

Syrians under temporary protection

2,273,325 (14 May 2026, Presidency of Migration Management)⁴

Internet users

92.3% of people aged 16 to 74 (2026)⁵

Mobile subscriptions

108 per 100 people (2024)⁶

Consumer inflation

29.7% year on year (September 2026), after 44.4% (December 2024)⁸

GDP per capita

about US$18,600 (2025)⁷

Research guide

Research landscape

Turkey has a developed research industry serving both local clients and international studies. Istanbul, with 15.75 million residents (18.3% of the population), is the main business centre; Ankara, the capital (5.91 million), and Izmir (4.50 million) are the other usual locations for city samples and focus groups. Full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative, B2B and healthcare firms, CATI studios, field networks and online panel providers.

Research professionals are represented by TÜAD (Türkiye Araştırmacılar Derneği, the Turkish Researchers’ Association). Prices move quickly: annual consumer inflation was 29.73% in September 2026, down from 44.38% in December 2024. Ask how long a quote is valid and in which currency it is set.

Languages and fieldwork

Turkish is the fieldwork language for almost all studies: questionnaires should be translated by native speakers and tested before fieldwork. Censuses have not asked about ethnicity since 1965, so there is no official count of Kurdish speakers. Kurds are concentrated in the southeast, with large communities in Istanbul and other big cities, and most speak Kurmanji: studies in the southeast may need a Kurdish version or bilingual interviewers.

On 14 May 2026, Turkey hosted 2,273,325 Syrians under temporary protection, and 1,211,142 foreigners held a residence permit in April 2026: studies of these audiences may need Arabic or other language versions. A national sample usually covers the 12 NUTS level 1 regions in proportion to their population, with quotas or weighting by region and province size. 93.6% of people live in province or district centres and 6.4% in towns and villages.

Which methods work

Connectivity is high: in 2026, 92.3% of people aged 16 to 74 used the internet (94.8% of men, 89.9% of women), and there are 108 mobile subscriptions per 100 people. WhatsApp is used by 90% of internet users, YouTube by 77.6% and Instagram by 71.1%. Online surveys using access panels are widely used for consumer research, and mobile-friendly questionnaires are essential.

Older people are less active online: only 31.3% of internet users aged 65 to 74 used e-government services, against 93% of those aged 25 to 34. Telephone (CATI) and face-to-face interviews (CAPI) remain used for older or offline audiences, smaller towns and villages, hard-to-reach groups and B2B decision makers. Focus groups are usually held in dedicated studios in the major cities.

Timing

The two religious holidays move each year with the Islamic calendar. In 2027, Ramadan starts on 8 February, Ramazan Bayramı runs from 9 to 11 March (eve on 8 March) and Kurban Bayramı from 16 to 19 May (eve on 15 May). Avoid the holiday days and the days around them; during Ramadan, interview times and in-person sessions may need adjusting.

The 2026/2027 school year runs from 14 September 2026 to 25 June 2027. During the summer holidays that follow, families and business respondents are harder to reach, so allow more fieldwork time. The mid-year school break runs from 25 January to 5 February 2027, with short breaks from 16 to 20 November 2026 and 8 to 12 March 2027.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 (KVKK), published in the Official Gazette on 7 April 2016 and supervised by the Personal Data Protection Authority and its Board. As a rule, personal data cannot be processed without the respondent’s explicit consent unless another legal ground applies, and respondents must be told who the controller is, why the data is processed and to whom it may be transferred.

Law No. 7499 (Official Gazette of 12 March 2024) changed the rules from 1 June 2024. Transfers abroad now rely on an adequacy decision by the Board, standard contracts, binding corporate rules or other appropriate safeguards; the former explicit-consent route could be used until 1 September 2024, and explicit consent is now only an occasional exception. Signed standard contracts must be notified to the Authority within 5 business days (fines of TRY 50,000 to 1,000,000). Ask your agency where the data is hosted and how identifiable data, recordings or video will be shared with you outside Turkey.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, regions and provinces, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask whether the agency follows the ICC/ESOMAR International Code and how interviews are checked.
• Ask which panels or fieldwork suppliers will be used, and how quotas by region, province size, age and gender are set and weighted.
• Check fieldwork dates against Ramadan, the two Bayram holidays and the summer break; ask how long the quote is valid and in which currency.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, the retention period and, for data leaving Turkey, the transfer safeguard used.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.