Kuwait Has Lowest Mobile Prices Across GCC
by Will Watts
A recent study of mobile prices across the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) found that Kuwait had the lowest costs in the region for Q3 2025. Across the four user types studied, the average price in Kuwait was just $31.10 – which was just 51% of the average monthly cost of next lowest cost country (Bahrain).
Kuwait performed well across the board, with the country having the lowest average cost for all four consumer types. On the other end of the spectrum, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar ranked as the most expensive markets, with average monthly costs for all four consumer types of $107.15 and $115.53, respectively.
Methodology
To study the prices across these mobile markets, four model consumer profiles were used:
- Profile 1: 5GB and 100 minutes per month
- Profile 2: 20GB and 100 minutes per month
- Profile 3: 50GB and 100 minutes per month
- Profile 4: 100GB and 100 minutes per month
Two notes on these profiles. First, although calling is less important than it once was, it is still a critical element of mobile plans. As such, a limited volume of minutes (100) was included in each profile to ensure that the selected offers could deliver on all the requirements for a standard consumer mobile line.
Second, consumers in the GCC are typically high mobile data users. As such, these profiles focused on higher usage consumer types than are commonly used when comparing prices across countries.
All prices are shown in purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted US dollars.
Country prices are the average price of all operators with a qualifying offer for each profile.
All data comes from Tarifica’s Q3 update of its Telecom Pricing Intelligence Platform (TPIP).
Price by Profile Type
In reviewing the prices across the GCC, there was the greatest separation between countries for the heavy data usage profiles (those requiring 50GB or 100GB per month). For Profile 1, average costs across countries were relatively tightly clustered, with the lowest-cost country (Kuwait) at a little less than half (43%) of the price in the highest-cost country (the United Arab Emirates). By Profile 4, however, the gap had widened substantially, with the cost in Kuwait (the lowest-price country) being around one-fifth (21%) of the cost in the highest-price country (Qatar).
These disparities are the result of the various strategies employed in terms of volume discounting. In some countries (particularly Kuwait), operators substantially reduced the price per GB as the plan’s included data volumes increased. At the other extreme were countries like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where prices scaled linearly as users’ requirements grew. This led to Qatar migrating from the second lowest cost market for Profile 1 users to the highest cost market for Profile 5 users.
Operator Price Range
The other noteworthy finding was the wide variety in how aggressively operators competed on price within each country. At one extreme were Kuwait and Qatar where there was almost no price difference between competing operators (in Kuwait, the three operators were priced identically across all profiles).
At the other extreme was Oman, where there were dramatic differences in monthly price across the various providers. For instance, for Profile 1, the prices ranged from $20.53 per month at Vodafone all the way to $35.92 per month at Omantel.
This variation can be seen as an indicator of the level of commoditization of mobile service across countries, where a smaller pricing spread, like in Kuwait or Qatar, is indicative of a lack of consumer differentiation between brands, and a larger spread, such as in Oman, being a sign of meaningful perceived differences in service quality.
Key Takeaways and Market Implications
This pricing data highlights two important patterns that shed light on affordability and competition in the GCC. First, the data shows that pricing approaches diverge most sharply at higher data usage levels, where some markets reward heavy users with steep discounts while others keep costs rising in step with demand. In markets like Kuwait, where operators lower the cost per GB as usage increases, consumers benefit from affordable access and operators send a clear signal of support for heavy data use. In contrast, countries such as the UAE and Qatar keep prices climbing in step with usage, which risks discouraging digital adoption and makes these markets stand out internationally as expensive.
Second, the range of prices within each country reveals how competition is working on the ground. Where operators price almost identically, as in Kuwait and Qatar, it suggests little real differentiation between providers. That can limit consumer choice and may be worth attention from regulators. By contrast, markets like Oman, where prices differ widely across operators, show that some providers are competing more aggressively on value and service positioning.
About the Author:
Will Watts
VP of Product
[email protected]
Will is responsible for the planning, build-out, and maintenance of Tarifica’s data solutions, including the flagship Digital Intelligence Platforms. In his more than 10 years at Tarifica, he has successfully delivered custom projects and market analyses to clients such as GSMA, the World Bank, BEREC, Verizon and Telefonica.
For questions or comments about this analysis, please contact Penny Wiesman at [email protected]