Market research statistics at a glance
Market research is a large, fast-moving business with a split personality: the top firms are scaling globally, while the U.S. insights and analytics market is still expanding from a very large base. The dataset here gives a clear snapshot of both the supplier side and the market side, which makes the trends easier to read than a single ranking ever could.
Big number: the U.S. insights and analytics market reached nearly US$80B in total size (Insights Association, Growth Slows Across U.S. Insights & Analytics Market).
Fast fact: ESOMAR’s Global Top 20 Insights Companies ranking shows IQVIA at #1 with 2023 turnover of US$5,616M, 3.5% growth, and 11.6% global market share (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
Why it matters: the leading firms are not just competing on scale. They are also competing on growth, margin structure, and the ability to translate research, analytics, and advisory work into repeatable revenue streams.
Table of contents
- What the market research statistics say
- Global leaders and market concentration
- U.S. market size and growth trends
- Company-level revenue signals
- What the numbers suggest for buyers and analysts
What the market research statistics say
The strongest theme in the dataset is concentration at the top and diversity just below it. The largest research and insights firms still pull in multi-billion-dollar revenue, but the rankings also show a long tail of highly differentiated providers, consulting-adjacent players, and category specialists.
A second theme is that growth is uneven. Some firms posted strong double-digit gains, while others saw declines or only modest expansion. That mix points to a market where demand is real, but not evenly distributed across methods, verticals, geographies, or product lines.
A third theme is that the U.S. market is huge but no longer in an obvious breakout phase. It is still growing, yet the annual growth numbers have clearly cooled from the surge years.
Key takeaways
- The largest named supplier in the ranking, IQVIA, reported US$5,616M in 2023 turnover and 11.6% share (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
- The U.S. insights and analytics market reached nearly US$80B, which puts the category in a very large enterprise-services class (Insights Association, Growth Slows Across U.S. Insights & Analytics Market).
- Several firms combined mid-single-digit or better growth with already substantial scale, which is often the most durable profile in a mature service market.
- The data includes both pure-play research companies and consulting firms with strong insights practices, which helps explain why the top of the ranking is so broad.
Global leaders and market concentration
The ESOMAR ranking is the clearest window into supplier concentration. The top ten alone contain an unusual mix of research incumbents, analytics firms, and consulting-heavy organizations.
| Rank | Company | 2023 turnover | Growth | Global market share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IQVIA | US$5,616M | 3.5% | 11.6% |
| 2 | Nielsen | US$3,500M | -1.4% | 7.2% |
| 3 | Kantar | US$2,980M | -2.7% | 6.2% |
| 4 | Ipsos | US$2,585M | 3.0% | 5.3% |
| 5 | Circana | US$2,344M | 6.0% | 4.8% |
| 6 | NIQ | US$2,089M | 12.0% | 4.3% |
| 7 | GfK | US$1,150M | 3.4% | 2.4% |
| 8 | Dynata | US$678M | -0.3% | 1.4% |
| 9 | GLG | US$665M | 2.3% | 1.4% |
| 10 | Alphasights | US$466M | 7.1% | 1.0% |
(ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
The table shows a steep drop from the first few firms to the rest of the top ten. IQVIA’s turnover is far above the lower half of the ranking, and the market share gap between #1 and #10 is wide enough to matter strategically.
Stat callout: the top six firms in the ranking each clear US$2,000M in 2023 turnover, which signals that the highest tier of the market has a very durable revenue base (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
The ranking also reveals that growth is not tightly linked to size. NIQ grew 12.0%, Circana grew 6.0%, and Alphasights grew 7.1%, while larger names such as Nielsen and Kantar recorded negative growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024). That combination suggests that newer product mixes, acquisition effects, or category positioning can matter as much as historical scale.
The middle of the pack is still big business
The next slice of the ranking is packed with firms that are large enough to shape market direction even if they do not dominate the headlines.
- INTAGE ranked #11 with US$442M in turnover and -5.8% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
- Abt Associates ranked #12 with US$434M and 18.4% growth, one of the strongest expansion rates in the dataset (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
- Comscore and AIR both reported US$370M, with growth rates of -1.6% and 18.1% respectively (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
- Prodege, dunnhumby, YouGov, Macromill, CINT AB, and Westat all sat in a tight band between US$288M and US$345M (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
That middle tier matters because it is where many category-specific positioning strategies become visible. Companies in this range do not need to be universal platforms; they can win by being strong in panels, audiences, syndicated data, consulting, or niche research workflows.
Not all growth looks the same
A useful way to read the ranking is to separate size from momentum.
High-growth names in the dataset include:
- Abt Associates at 18.4% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- AIR at 18.1% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- YouGov at 16.8% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- NIQ at 12.0% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- Westat at 12.9% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
Negative-growth names in the dataset include:
- Nielsen at -1.4% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- Kantar at -2.7% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- Dynata at -0.3% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- INTAGE at -5.8% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- Forrester Research at -10.6% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- CINT AB at -7.3% growth (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
That spread is important because it shows the market is not moving in one direction. Some firms are expanding sharply, while others are contracting even when they remain highly visible names.
U.S. market size and growth trends
The U.S. insights and analytics market gives the clearest demand-side signal in the dataset. The market reached nearly US$80B in total size, which is large enough to support multiple business models and still leave room for specialization (Insights Association, Growth Slows Across U.S. Insights & Analytics Market).
The growth history in the dataset shows a clear cooling pattern:
| Year | U.S. insights and analytics industry growth |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 5.7% |
| 2021 | 16.6% |
| 2022 | 14.3% |
| 2023 | 7.6% |
(Insights Association, Growth Slows Across U.S. Insights & Analytics Market)
This progression matters because it shows that the category expanded rapidly in the early part of the period, then settled into a slower pace by 2023. The important point is not that growth disappeared. It is that the market normalized after a much stronger run.
Stat callout: growth of 16.6% in 2021 and 14.3% in 2022 gives way to 7.6% in 2023, which is still healthy but far less explosive (Insights Association, Growth Slows Across U.S. Insights & Analytics Market).
For buyers, that usually means more vendor competition, more package differentiation, and more pressure on providers to prove value. For providers, it usually means the easiest growth has already been harvested and the next phase depends more on retention, cross-sell, vertical expertise, and workflow integration.
What a nearly US$80B market implies
A market this large has room for several different buyer needs at once:
- Brand tracking and advertising intelligence
- Panel-based consumer measurement
- B2B expert networks and advisory-style research
- Consulting-backed analytics and strategic insight
- Media measurement, audience data, and platform reporting
The dataset does not break those segments out directly, but the company list strongly suggests that no single delivery model owns the whole category.
Company-level revenue signals
The annual-report figures add another layer of context because they show how individual firms are performing within the broader market.
Ipsos
Ipsos reported 2024 revenue of €2,441 million and 2024 sales of €2,440.8 million, with 1.3% organic growth, 2.3% external growth, and a 13.1% operating margin rate (Ipsos 2024 Annual Results). It also generated €216 million of free cash flow in 2024, and its gross margin rose by 120 bps (Ipsos 2024 Annual Results).
Those figures tell a simple story: modest top-line growth, but stronger signs of efficiency and cash generation.
Kantar
Kantar reported US$3,429.0M of gross revenue in 2024, up from US$3,349.9M in 2023 (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024). It also reported US$755.4M of adjusted EBITDA in 2024 versus US$712.8M in 2023, with adjusted EBITDA margin improving to 22.0% from 21.3% (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024).
The business is not just large. It is also showing margin resilience. That matters because margin improvement in a service-heavy industry usually signals a stronger mix, better cost control, or both.
Kantar’s divisional and regional revenue mix adds more texture:
- Insights division: US$1,934.4M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Profiles division: US$313.7M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Worldpanel division: US$408.4M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Numerator division: US$262.4M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Media division: US$510.1M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
And by region:
- North America: US$738.7M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Continental Europe: US$663.4M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- United Kingdom: US$496.1M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Asia Pacific: US$582.6M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Latin America: US$318.8M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
- Middle East and Africa: US$113.8M (Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
That spread shows a global business with meaningful presence across the major commercial regions, not a narrow country-specific operation.
The consulting-heavy side of insights
The dataset also includes a strong consulting-adjacent cohort. ESOMAR’s Global Top 20 Reporting Companies list shows McKinsey & Co. at US$1,350M, Accenture at US$1,246M, Booz Allen Hamilton at US$1,111M, Ernst & Young at US$1,029M, BCG at US$812M, KPMG at US$795M, IDC at US$790M, PwC at US$784M, J. D. Power at US$670M, Bain & Co. at US$564M, Ascential at US$517M, Forrester Research at US$481M, Wood Mackenzie at US$382M, and RAND Corporation at US$357M (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
That list matters because it broadens the definition of market research beyond classic syndicated research vendors. In practice, the industry includes strategy consulting, advisory, media intelligence, specialist research, and insight-led services that feed directly into decision-making.
A quick read on scale versus specialization
The ranking suggests three distinct operating profiles:
- Very large diversified research and measurement providers, such as IQVIA, Nielsen, Kantar, Ipsos, and NIQ (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
- Mid-scale specialists with strong momentum, such as YouGov, AIR, Abt Associates, and Westat (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
- Consulting and advisory firms that monetize insight work as part of a broader client relationship, such as McKinsey, Accenture, EY, BCG, and PwC (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024).
That structure explains why the category can look fragmented from the outside while still being highly valuable at the top.
What the numbers suggest for buyers and analysts
For buyers, the statistics point to a market where vendor selection should be based on fit, not just brand. A firm with billions in turnover is not automatically the right choice if the problem is narrow, local, or method-specific.
For analysts, the dataset shows a market with three useful lenses:
- Supplier concentration at the top, where the largest firms still command substantial share (ESOMAR Global Top Insights Companies 2024)
- Demand scale in the U.S., where the market is large enough to support many business models but no longer in a hypergrowth phase (Insights Association, Growth Slows Across U.S. Insights & Analytics Market)
- Financial differentiation, where revenue, growth, and margin can point to very different strategic positions even among familiar names (Ipsos 2024 Annual Results; Kantar Annual Report and Accounts 2024)
A final practical reading: the phrase “market research statistics” covers more than one market. It can mean supplier rankings, category revenue, regional demand, or operating performance. The dataset here shows all four at once, which is why the story is less about one giant number and more about how the ecosystem is changing around that number.