Market Intelligence Brief for Kuwait now available

Kuwait, a small city-state on the Persian Gulf, was one of the fastest-growing markets for UK-bound international students in 2018/19 with 15 per cent annual growth. UK HEIs have seen double-digit growth in students from Kuwait for six consecutive years. In 2018/19 there were 4,905 Kuwaiti students at UK HEIs, up from just 1,615 a decade earlier. Nearly three-quarters of these students were in undergraduate programmes. For the first time, Kuwaiti students on government scholarships in the UK outnumbered those in the US. 

The country’s population may be small with just 4.6 million people, but the youth population is booming. In 2019, the under-14 age group was estimated to account for one-quarter of the total population, indicating that the tertiary student population will continue to grow for the next decade and beyond.

The government of Kuwait is seeking to develop as a hub for international finance and trade, diversifying away from hydrocarbons, which currently accounts for 72 per cent of government revenue. To do this, the country is investing heavily in a business-friendly environment, infrastructure, research and development and education.

The government is actively encouraging Kuwaiti students to enrol in degree programmes in STEM fields. While the most popular subject area for new enrolments in the UK for most countries is business and administrative studies, the most popular field for new Kuwaiti students is by far engineering and technology. In 2018/19, 1,785 new Kuwaiti undergraduates enrolled in this subject area, compared with just 380 new enrolments for business and administrative studies, the second most popular field.

Kuwait presents a huge opportunity for the UK higher education sector in international recruitment and transnational education. Download the Market Intelligence Brief prepared by the Insights and Consultancy team to learn more about this high-potential growth market.

The Market Intelligence Brief on Kuwait is now available at our online store for purchase and download.

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The Market Intelligence Brief is designed to provide you with an overview of a particular country. Using the latest data from the most reliable sources, it represents a window onto the country's education system and student population as well as the economic, demographic and social factors that shape its higher education sector. The new 2020 series covers not only updated analysis on macro-economic and socio-economic indicators, but also provides a full picture of the education market of a given country.

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