Market Research Companies in Kuwait

Key figures for researchers

Population

5.31 million (end of June 2026)¹

Kuwaitis / non-Kuwaitis

1.56 million (30%) / 3.74 million (70%) (end of June 2026)¹

Men / women

3.21 million / 2.1 million residents (end of June 2026)¹

Largest expatriate groups

Indians 1.06 million, Egyptians 670,000, Bangladeshis 333,100 (end of June 2026)¹

Domestic workers

856,000, 16% of the population (end of 2025)²

Largest governorates

Al Farwaniya 1.11 million, Hawalli 0.93 million, Al Ahmadi 0.92 million (Census 2021)³

Urban population / median age

100% / 34.8 years (late 2025)⁴

Internet users

99.0% of the population (end of 2025)⁴

Mobile connections

153% of the population (late 2025)⁴

GDP per capita

about US$32,300 (2025)⁵

Research guide

Research landscape

Kuwait is a compact market: 100% of the population lives in urban areas, spread across six governorates. In the 2021 census, Al Farwaniya (1.11 million), Hawalli (0.93 million) and Al Ahmadi (0.92 million) were the largest, followed by the Capital governorate around Kuwait City (0.57 million), Al Jahra (0.57 million) and Mubarak Al-Kabeer (0.28 million). Market research agencies are mostly based in and around Kuwait City, and many studies in Kuwait are run as part of wider Gulf or Middle East projects.

Population figures come from the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), which keeps the civil register, and from the Central Statistical Bureau. The distribution of Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis differs strongly by governorate: in 2021, Kuwaitis outnumbered non-Kuwaitis in Mubarak Al-Kabeer, while non-Kuwaitis made up about three quarters of residents in Hawalli and Al Farwaniya. Quotas by governorate and nationality should therefore be set together.

Languages and fieldwork

Under Article 3 of the Constitution, Arabic is the official language, and English is widely used in business. Questionnaires for the general public are usually offered in Arabic and English, with other languages (such as Hindi, Urdu, Bengali or Tagalog) added when specific expatriate groups are part of the target.

At the end of June 2026, Kuwaitis made up 30% of the 5.31 million residents and non-Kuwaitis 70%; Indians (1.06 million) and Egyptians (670,000) were the largest expatriate groups. Men outnumber women (3.21 million and 2.1 million), and 856,000 residents were domestic workers at the end of 2025. A sample of all residents will look very different from a sample of Kuwaiti households: agree early which population is the target, and set quotas by nationality, gender and age.

Which methods work

Connectivity is near universal: 99.0% of the population uses the internet and there are about 1.5 mobile connections per person. Online surveys and telephone interviews (CATI) work well for most targets, including B2B and higher-income residents.

Online panels can under-represent lower-income workers, domestic workers and Kuwaiti nationals: ask the agency how the panel is recruited and how quotas are checked. For B2B studies, note that the public sector is a major employer: at the end of 2025, 527,000 people worked in government and 1.83 million in the private sector, excluding domestic workers. Face-to-face interviews and in-person recruitment help reach hard-to-reach groups, and focus groups are usually split by nationality, language and gender.

Timing

Ramadan changes daily routines: working hours are shorter, fieldwork often moves to the evening and consumption patterns change. In 2027 it is expected to start around 8 February, with Eid al-Fitr around 9–10 March and Eid al-Adha around 16–17 May (exact dates depend on the moon sighting). National Day (25 February) and Liberation Day (26 February) are public holidays; in 2027 they fall during Ramadan, so February and early March are a difficult period.

Summer is extremely hot: outdoor work is banned between 11am and 4pm from 1 June to 31 August, which also limits street and door-to-door interviewing. Many residents travel during the summer holidays, so families and decision makers are harder to reach. For B2B studies, plan outside the summer, Ramadan and the Eid holidays.

Data protection

Kuwait has no general personal data protection law. Personal data is covered by several texts, including Law No. 20 of 2014 on Electronic Transactions, which prohibits collecting or processing personal information illegally without the person’s consent, and the Cybercrime Law of 2015. There is no national data protection authority.

The Data Privacy Protection Regulation (Decision No. 26 of 2024) of the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) replaced the 2021 regulation. It applies to CITRA-licensed service providers, which can include operators of websites, apps and cloud services: terms must be explained in Arabic and English, users must give consent before data is collected and can withdraw it, transfers abroad must be disclosed, and breaches must be reported to CITRA within 24 hours. Ask your agency how respondents give consent, where the data is stored and how it will be transferred to you.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, governorates, nationality and gender quotas, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask who does the fieldwork: own interviewers or subcontractors, which languages they cover, and whether they have both male and female interviewers and moderators.
• Ask how Kuwaiti nationals and other hard-to-reach groups will be recruited, and how nationality quotas are set and verified.
• Ask about quality control: back-checks, audio or GPS checks for face-to-face interviews, panel fraud checks for online surveys.
• Ask which data protection rules the agency follows: consent wording, storage and transfer of the data to you.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.