Market Research Companies in Qatar

Key figures for researchers

Population

3.21 million (end of December 2025)¹

Men / women

2.22 million / 0.93 million residents (mid-2024)²

Census population

2.85 million (Census 2020)³

Largest municipalities

Doha 1.19 million, Al Rayyan 0.83 million, Al Wakrah 0.27 million (Census 2020)³

Qataris / non-Qataris

not published in official statistics⁵

Urban population

99.4% (late 2025)⁶

Median age

33.5 years (end of 2025)⁶

Internet users

99.0% of the population (end of 2025)⁶

Mobile connections

152% of the population (late 2025)⁶

GDP per capita

about US$72,500 (2025)⁷

Research guide

Research landscape

Qatar is a compact market: 99.4% of residents live in urban areas, and the municipalities of Doha, Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah held most of the 2.85 million people counted in the 2020 census. Market research agencies are mostly based in Doha, and many studies in Qatar are run as part of wider Gulf or Middle East projects.

Official population figures are published by the National Planning Council (NPC); older releases, including the 2020 Census of Population, Housing and Establishments, carry the name of the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA). The census, in which Doha held 41.7% of the population, remains the usual base for sampling frames and quotas.

Languages and fieldwork

Arabic is the official language under the Constitution, and English is widely used in business and daily life. Questionnaires for the general public are usually offered in Arabic and English, with other languages added when specific expatriate groups are part of the target.

The population is strongly unbalanced by gender: 2.22 million men and 0.93 million women lived in Qatar in mid-2024. A sample without gender quotas will therefore look very different from the household or family consumer a client may have in mind. Official statistics do not publish the number of Qataris and non-Qataris, so quotas by nationality group are usually agreed with the agency from survey data rather than from census totals. Qatari nationals are a minority of residents and harder to reach: allow more time and budget for them.

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, women in some nationality groups and Qatari nationals: ask the agency how the panel is recruited and how quotas are checked. Face-to-face interviews and in-person recruitment are useful for hard-to-reach groups, and focus groups are usually held in Doha, often 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). Qatar National Day on 18 December is an official holiday, and other days around it may also be declared holidays by the Amiri Diwan.

Summer is very hot: outdoor work is banned between 10am and 3:30pm from 1 June to 15 September, which also limits street and door-to-door interviewing. Many residents travel during the summer school holidays, so families and decision makers are harder to reach. For B2B studies, plan outside the summer, Ramadan and the Eid holidays.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by Law No. 13 of 2016 on the protection of personal data privacy, the first general data protection law in the Gulf, supervised by the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA). Consent is generally required, sensitive data (such as health or religious beliefs) needs prior authorisation and an impact assessment, breaches likely to cause damage must be notified within 72 hours, and fines can be substantial.

In April 2026 the NCSA published guidelines on individuals’ rights: respondents can access, correct or delete their data and withdraw consent at any time, and erasure requests must be answered within 30 days. Companies in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) follow the QFC’s own data protection regulations. 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, municipalities, 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 Qatari 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 how Law No. 13 of 2016 is applied: consent wording, sensitive data, storage and transfer of the data to you.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.