Market Research in Asia Asia Pacific currently has a 13.3% share of the global MR market - compared with 45.7% for Europe, and 36.5% for North America - but growth figures suggest these proportions are about to alter significantly. Market research in Asia Pacific experienced an average growth rate of 5.2% last year - only slightly ahead of the global average. However, most major Asian markets are in fact growing far more quickly than this - with growth as high as 20% in China and 15.8% in the Philippines. The average figure is dragged down by slow growth in the already well-established MR market of Japan - which accounts for 45% of the region’s MR turnover. Top ten Asian MR markets in terms of turnover MR turnover (US$m) MR turnover as proportion of GDP (%) MR industry growth (%) Global ranking (based on turnover) MR spend per capita (US$) MR spend as as proportion of ad spend (%) Japan 1,294 0.03 1.5 5 10.14 3.6 China 371 0.02 20 10 0.28 1.5 Korea 184 0.03 6.3 15 3.87 2.9 Taiwan 96 ? 6.5 25 4.21 4.7 India 72 0.01 6 30 0.07 2.7 Hong Kong 69 0.04 12.2 31 9.76 1.4 Thailand 56 0.03 10.1 37 0.89 2.7 Singapore 45 0.04 9.2 38 10.62 3.8 Malaysia 34 0.03 7.7 41 1.40 2.9 Philippines 32 0.03 15.8 43 0.40 1.6 Indonesia 22 0.01 3.5 44 0.10 0.7 Total Asia Pacific 2,863 5.2 Total world 21,501 5 [Source: 2004 ESOMAR Industry Study] The figures are taken from ESOMAR’s Industry Study, which provides informed estimates of MR spending and growth for 75 countries based on a survey of trade associations and ESOMAR representatives around the world. Turnover Ranked by turnover, the biggest global market by far is the USA. Japan comes in at number five - ahead of Canada, Italy and Spain, and China is at number ten. MR spend per head Singapore (with an MR spend of $10.62 per inhabitant in 2004) and Japan ($10.14) join the top 20 countries for MR spend per head. With the exception of New Zealand, all other countries in the top 20 are in North America or Europe. The UK tops the list with a spend of nearly US$40 per person. Many Asian countries spend a tiny fraction of this amount. In China - the second biggest Asian market for turnover - MR spend per head is just $0.28, and India spends just $0.07. The market research market in both countries is tipped to grow significantly. MR spend as a percentage of advertising spend tends to be lower than in Europe and North America. In most rich industrialised countries, MR spend is between 5% and 10% of ad spend - rising to 15.1% in France and 12.8% in Sweden. This compares with just 1.4% in Hong Kong. Figures for all other Asian countries except Taiwan (4.7%) are below 4%. Type of research Globally, the manufacturing industry is the most important sector for MR - responsible for 46% of total turnover. However, its importance is far lower in Singapore (10%) and Japan (26%) - the two Asian countries for which ESOMAR has details. In Japan, research for ad agencies contributes a substantial amount to overall turnover: 20% compared with a 3% worldwide average. In Singapore, the impact of business to business research (25%) is far greater than the global average of 3%. The biggest firms Four of the world’s top 25 MR firms are in Asia - all based in Japan. Intage Inc at number 12, Video Research Ltd at number 14, Dentsu Research Inc at 20, and Nikkei Research Inc. at 22. Less than 3% of Japanese research firms’ revenues come from outside Japan, but this is expected to grow in the future.