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Welcome To Kuwait
Country number
60
Selected MR Agencies
  • Elephants Can't Jump

    Ensuring brand initiatives work in practice as well as in theory. To have marketplace impact, we believe every research assignment should consist of three elements consumer exploration or validation, within a competitive context, generating commercial outputs.
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  • Firefish Ltd

    29 full time staff, operating in all corners of the globe, on all manner of projects. No methodology is squashed to fit. We approach each brief with fresh eyes and minds, to make sure you get the most out of your research, helping your brand move forward.
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  • Grass Roots

    Grass Roots is one of Europe's largest performance improvement companies. Established in 1980, Grass Roots UK is the founding company of a group with offices and partners operating in 15 countries around the world.
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  • DIGITAL-MR

    In addition to Social Media Research (Web Listening) DigitalMRs solutions also include community panels, access panels, Web usability and a distinct focus on qualitativeresearch online.
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An Introduction to Kuwait

The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic "akwat", the plural of "kout", meaning fortress built near water. Historically, the region was the site of Characene, a major Parthian port for trade between India and Mesopotamia. After World War I Kuwait emerged as an independent sheikhdom under the protection of Britain, which lasted till 1961, and the discovery of oil in the late '30s led to unprecedented economic growth. After its invasion in 1990 and the subsequent first Gulf War, nearly 773 Kuwaiti oil wells were set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi army, resulting in a major environmental and economic catastrophe and serious damage to Kuwait's infrastructure. See full country profile.

Latest Research News from Middle East

Mar 21
Southeast Asia-based qual and quant marketing intelligence and panels provider Divergent Insights has appointed Swagata Moitra Ghosh to its Leadership Team as VP Global Research and Insights. Mar 21 2024
Feb 19
Yahoo has launched a rapid insights solution called PurpleLab, based on Qualtrics technology - initially in Australia and Southeast Asia. Feb 19 2024


1 current Middle Eastern job:

Survey Research Manager, Remote Working - Worldwide, $ Competitive salary - (posted Feb 27 2024)


Fast Facts
Map of Kuwait
CAPITAL: Kuwait City
GOVERNMENT: Constitutional Emirate
AREA: 17,818 sq. km
POPULATION: 2,692,526 - note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2010 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Arabic
Kuwait Towers, Kuwait City
Kuwait Towers, Kuwait City


Marrying Money In order to combat the dual threats to Kuwaiti society of ageing spinsters and men marrying foreign brides the government pays single Kuwaiti men $14,000 to marry a Kuwaiti girl. The main reason cited for not marrying a local girl is the extraordinary expense associated with Kuwaiti weddings. This includes the cost of parties in five star hotels; jewellery; dowries; and couture dresses. Local estimates put the price of marrying an outsider at a tenth of the price of marrying a local girl.

Recently suggestions have been made in the Kuwait parliament that this benefit should be doubled for the first wife with an extra $8,000 for every subsequent wife.

A little More Knowledge?
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Kuwait in Profile

The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic "akwat", the plural of "kout", meaning fortress built near water. Historically, the region was the site of Characene, a major Parthian port for trade between India and Mesopotamia. After World War I Kuwait emerged as an independent sheikhdom under the protection of Britain, which lasted till 1961, and the discovery of oil in the late '30s led to unprecedented economic growth. After its invasion in 1990 and the subsequent first Gulf War, nearly 773 Kuwaiti oil wells were set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi army, resulting in a major environmental and economic catastrophe and serious damage to Kuwait's infrastructure.

Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. The country has the world's fifth largest oil reserves and petroleum products now account for nearly 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income. Kuwait is the eleventh richest country in the world per capita, has the highest human development index (HDI) in the Arab world and is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States.

Some Business and General Info

GDP: $142.1 billion - $52,800 per capita (2009 est.)

Religions Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shia 30%), other (includes Christian, Hindu, Parsi) 15%

Currency: Kuwaiti Dinar (1 KWD = 2.25 GBP)

Telephone Code: +965

Research Industry

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) - including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates - had a total MR spend of USD 130m in 2008, an absolute growth of 18.2% (net 6.6%) on 2007.

Overview of Trade and Industry

According to the CIA World Factbook, Kuwait exported $50.25 billion worth of goods in 2009, comprising of oil and refined products and fertilisers. These exports went principally to Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, the US, China and Singapore. Imports in the same year were worth $17.09 billion, consisting of food, construction materials, vehicles and parts and clothing, coming mostly from the US, China, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, India and the UK.

Kuwait has proven crude oil reserves of 104 billion barrels estimated to be 10% of the world's reserves. Being a tax-free country, Kuwait's oil industry accounts for 80% of government revenue, while petroleum and petrochemicals account for nearly half of GDP and 95% of export revenues. Other major industries include shipping, construction, cement, water desalination, construction materials and financial services.

Kuwait has a well developed banking system and several banks in the country date back to the time before oil was discovered. Founded in 1952, the National Bank of Kuwait is the largest bank in the country and one of the largest in the Arab world. Kuwait's climate limits agricultural development. Consequently, with the exception of fish, it depends almost wholly on food imports.

My view
from...
Kuwait
Researchers Talk!
Have your say!
If you are a researcher based in Kuwait, in whatever capacity, then we would love to hear from you!

Email me:
laurence@mrweb.com

Views from...
Camille Gedeon, Managing Partner, Focus Marketing Consultancy
What's your background? How did you end up working in Market Research?

I have a PhD in Sociology from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes at the Sorbonne in Paris. I came to MR by accident, as the owner/GM of ABC Associated Business Consultants (the main MR agency in the region, which had its HQ in Lebanon), back in the late 70's, was looking for an assistant market researcher. He wanted a sociologist with a PhD because he did not believe much in BA /MBA holders.