Translated's Research Center

Madagascar

Africa

To which language should you translate to localize in Madagascar?

LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Official language

Malagasy (95.4%), French (2.3%)

Actual languages

Malagasy (95.4%), French (2.3%), Comorian (1.7%), Swahili (0.4%), other (0.2%)

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Madagascar

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

  • 16/150 localize by translating into French
  • 2/150 localize by translating into both French and Malagasy
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into French, Malagasy and Madagascar Sign Language
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both French and Arabic
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both French and Portuguese
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into French, Swahili and Malagasy
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Swahili
  • Localization not available 3M
  • Localization available ABB
  • Localization not available Accenture
  • Localization not available Adidas
  • Localization not available Adobe
  • Localization not available Airbnb
  • Localization not available Aldi
  • Localization not available Amazon
  • Localization not available American Airlines
  • Localization not available American Express
  • Localization available Apple
  • Localization not available Audi
  • Localization not available Autodesk
  • Localization not available Avis
  • Localization not available Bayer
  • Localization not available BMW
  • Localization not available Booking.com
  • Localization available Bosch
  • Localization not available British Airways
  • Localization not available Bumble
  • Localization not available Burberry
  • Localization not available BYD
  • Localization available Canon
  • Localization not available Capgemini
  • Localization not available Cartier
  • Localization not available Caterpillar
  • Localization not available Chevrolet
  • Localization not available Cisco Systems
  • Localization not available Citibank
  • Localization not available Coca-Cola
  • Localization not available Costco
  • Localization available Dell
  • Localization not available Deloitte
  • Localization not available Delta
  • Localization available DHL
  • Localization not available Disney+
  • Localization not available Dyson
  • Localization not available eBay
  • Localization not available Eli Lilly
  • Localization not available Emirates
  • Localization not available Ernst & Young
  • Localization available Facebook
  • Localization not available FedEx
  • Localization available Ford
  • Localization not available Four Seasons
  • Localization not available Fujifilm
  • Localization not available GE
  • Localization not available Gillette
  • Localization not available GoDaddy
  • Localization available Google
  • Localization not available Gucci
  • Localization not available Haier
  • Localization not available Heineken
  • Localization not available Hermès
  • Localization not available Hertz
  • Localization not available Hilton
  • Localization not available Hisense
  • Localization not available Hitachi
  • Localization not available Honda
  • Localization not available Hotels.com
  • Localization not available HP
  • Localization not available HP Enterprise
  • Localization not available HSBC
  • Localization not available Huawei
  • Localization not available Hyatt
  • Localization not available Hyundai
  • Localization not available IBM
  • Localization not available IKEA
  • Localization not available Intel
  • Localization available InterContinental Hotels
  • Localization not available J&J
  • Localization not available Jack Daniel's
  • Localization available Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • Localization not available John Deere
  • Localization not available Kellogg's
  • Localization not available Kia
  • Localization not available KPMG
  • Localization not available L'Oréal
  • Localization not available Land Rover
  • Localization not available LEGO
  • Localization not available Lenovo
  • Localization not available Lexus
  • Localization not available LG
  • Localization not available Louis Vuitton
  • Localization not available Lululemon
  • Localization not available LUSH
  • Localization not available Marriott
  • Localization not available MasterCard
  • Localization not available McDonald's
  • Localization available Mercedes-Benz
  • Localization not available Merck
  • Localization not available Microsoft
  • Localization not available Mitsubishi Electric
  • Localization not available Nestlé
  • Localization not available Netflix
  • Localization not available Nike
  • Localization available Nikon
  • Localization not available Nintendo
  • Localization not available Nio
  • Localization available Nissan
  • Localization available NIVEA
  • Localization not available Oracle
  • Localization not available Pampers
  • Localization not available Panasonic
  • Localization available PayPal
  • Localization not available Pepsi
  • Localization not available Pfizer
  • Localization not available Philips
  • Localization not available Pitney Bowes
  • Localization not available Porsche
  • Localization not available Procter & Gamble
  • Localization available PWC
  • Localization not available Revolut
  • Localization not available Rolex
  • Localization not available Royal Caribbean
  • Localization not available Salesforce
  • Localization available Samsung
  • Localization not available Sanofi
  • Localization not available SAP
  • Localization not available Sephora
  • Localization not available Shopify
  • Localization not available Siemens
  • Localization not available Sony
  • Localization not available Spotify
  • Localization not available Starbucks
  • Localization not available Steelcase
  • Localization not available Stripe
  • Localization not available Subaru
  • Localization not available Tesla
  • Localization available The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Localization not available Tiffany
  • Localization not available Tinder
  • Localization not available Toshiba
  • Localization available Toyota
  • Localization not available TripAdvisor
  • Localization not available Uber
  • Localization not available United Airlines
  • Localization not available UPS
  • Localization not available Visa
  • Localization available Volkswagen
  • Localization not available Volvo Cars
  • Localization not available Vrbo
  • Localization not available Walmart
  • Localization not available Western Union
  • Localization available Wikipedia
  • Localization not available Wise
  • Localization not available WordPress
  • Localization not available Workday
  • Localization available Xerox
  • Localization not available Xiaomi (Mi)
  • Localization not available Zara
  • Localization not available Zoom
Available in

If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data

Index of content

Overview

Language

Official language
Malagasy (95.4%), French (2.3%)

Other languages
Comorian (1.7%), Swahili (0.4%), other (0.2%)

T-index 0.013%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Demography

Capitals: Antananarivo
Currency: Malagasy ariary
Population: 29,61 m
Population density: 50/km2

Economy

GDP: 14.95 million USD (2022)
GDP per capita: 505 USD (2022)
Exports: 3.22 billion USD (2021)

Statistics

Unemployment rate: 2.1% (2022)
Urbanisation: 40% (2022)
Literacy: 77% (2021)
Internet users: 19.7% penetration, 5.90 million

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numerals with comma as decimal separator.

Date format: dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00261

Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal

Facts and data

Economy

Imports
4.53 billion USD (2021). Refined Petroleum ($437M), Rice ($235M), Palm Oil ($154M), Light Rubberized Knitted Fabric ($121M), and Packaged Medicaments ($101M), importing mostly from China ($1.26B), France ($403M), India ($351M), United Arab Emirates ($253M), and Oman ($228M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)
• 9.6% have an account with a financial
institution
• 1.0% have a credit card
• 12.1% have a mobile money account
• 1.7% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Ease of conducting business is below average (rated 47.7 out of 100) ranked 31st out of 48 Sub-Saharan African countries and ranked 161st out of 190 countries worldwide (2022, World Bank).

Exports
3.22 billion USD (2021). Vanilla ($619M), Raw Nickel ($492M), Titanium Ore ($146M), Gold ($143M), and Knit Sweaters ($127M), exporting mostly to United States ($603M), France ($565M), China ($376M), Japan ($229M), and United Arab Emirates ($170M).

Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 58.9 out of 100)
ranked 9th out of 47 Sub-Saharan African countries and ranked 91st out of 176 countries worldwide (2022, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 10th out of 27 Sub-Saharan African countries, 106th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal

Service imports (2016)
Service Exports (2016)

Source: OEC

Historical Data Trade Imports

The following section uses historical trade data imports from partners of Madagascar.

Historical Data Trade Exports

The following section uses historical trade data exports from partners of Madagascar.

Source: OEC

The Top Export Opportunities for Madagascar by Relatedness

Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product by showing only products that Madagascar is not specialized in.

Madagascar's Most Complex Exports

The Product Complexity Index (PCI) measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.

Source: OEC

Madagascar's Most Specialized Products

Specialization is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), an index that takes the ratio between Madagascar observed and expected exports in each product.

Source: OEC

Market Growth Imports (2016)

This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start importing that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.

Market Growth Exports (2016)

This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start exporting that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.

Source: OEC

T-index

T-index

Reach most of the online purchasing power

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.

Try it now

Media

Media language Malagasy, French.

Information channels
The media are highly-politicised and vulnerable to influence from their business and politics-linked owners, says Reporters Without Borders. The constitution does provide for freedom of the press, however, Freedom House says this guarantee has been undermined by criminal libel laws and other restrictions. Although nationwide broadcasting remains a state monopoly, there are hundreds of private local radio and TV stations. Radio is the main medium for news. BBC World Service radio is available on FM in Antananarivo (96.2), Fianarantsoa and Toamasina (89.8). Radio France Internationale (RFI) is also carried by FM relays.

The press

Midi-Madagasikara – private daily
Madagascar-Tribune – private daily
La Gazette de la Grande Ile – private daily
L’Express de Madagascar – private daily
Lakroa (Cross) – Catholic weekly
L’Écho du Sud – Private weekly

Television

Television Malagasy (TVM) – state-owned
Radio-Television Analamanga (RTA) – private
Madagascar TV (MATV) – private

Radio

Malagasy National Radio (RNM) – state-owned
Radio Don Bosco – Catholic
Radio Laza Iarivo (RLI) – private
Radio Antsiva – private

Media data source: BBC

Internet Data

Internet users
19.7% penetration, 5.90 million

Share of web traffic by device
59.55% mobile phones, 39.61% computers (laptops and
desktops), 0.84% tablet devices.

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
30.62 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population
43.8%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G)
68.2%

Most popular web search engines
Google (95.76%), Bing (3.35%), Yahoo! (0.51%), DuckDuckGo (0.09%), Yandex (0.08%), other (0.21%).

Most used social media
Facebook (83.2%), Twitter (12.91%), Pinterest (1.59%), Youtube (1.54%), Instagram (0.5%), LinkedIn (0.08%), reddit (0.08%), other (0.12%).

Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter

Social statistics

Life expectancy
64 yrs (2021)

Current health expenditure
3.88% of GDP (2020)

Current education expenditure
96.9% of total expenditure in public institutions.

CO2 emissions
0.1 metric tons per capita

Corruption perceptions Index
Madagascar scored 26 out of 100, ranked 142nd out of 180 countries worldwide.

World Happiness Index
Madagascar ranked 128th out of 146 countries, with a score of 4.339.

Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF

The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com

Languages research

Languages and dialects spoken in Madagascar

Legend

  • Malagasy Antakarana

  • Malagasy Betsimisaraka Nord

  • Malagasy Tsimihety

  • Malagasy, French, Italian

  • Malagasy Sakalava

  • Malagasy Du Plateau

  • Malagasy Betsimisaraka Sud

  • Malagasy Masikoro

  • Malagasy Tanosy

  • Malagasy Tandroy-Mahafaly

  • Malagasy Masikoro

The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com

Photo credit: Mihtiander, Unsplash

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