The Middle East

In recent decades, the pharmaceutical market has expanded its geographical reach. This trend appears to be here to stay; in a survey of major pharmaceutical firms conducted by global consulting firm PwC’s Strategy& team, more than half of respondents anticipated that over 30% of their global sales would originate in emerging markets by...

The health profile of the Kuwaiti population has changed significantly in the past several decades. Kuwaiti citizens, who account for around 30% of the population of just over 4.2m, have become more prone to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). While deaths from infectious diseases are posing less and less of a threat, NCDs – the four main...

In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of humanity was living in urban areas. Perhaps the most remarkable observation about this trend is the speed at which it has happened: as recently as 1900 urban areas accounted for 13% of the global population. Towns and cities are seen as the crucibles of opportunity for many rural...

The Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAWH), responsible for building towns, neighbourhoods and homes for Kuwaitis, is spending almost KD1bn ($3.3bn) per year on new developments, aiming to hand over 36,000 residential plots in 2017. Generous government-backed instalment loans are being extended to enable citizens to build homes on their...

Property development, sales and rentals play a significant role in Kuwait’s economy, and home ownership is set to grow as new cities are built to accommodate a growing population. Landlords in the office, retail and industrial sectors enjoy high occupancy levels and there has been extensive development of rented residential properties for the...

Kuwait has a small retail sector compared to larger GCC markets like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but consumers are quickly catching up with their regional peers in their tastes and demand for international food, brands and shopping experiences.