Market report
Built on WealthKarma, a real retirement app for Gulf expats. Nothing here is invented.
Market reportAug 2026
01 · The market
Retirement saving for salaried expats aged 35 to 50 across the six Gulf states, with no fixed date to leave.
02 · Bottom up
Gulf residents
64.8m
Sourced
Expats
33m
Sourced
In work
16.5m
Mixed
Aged 35–50
5.8m
Assumed
Earning enough to save
1.15m
Assumed
In the UAE alone the same filters give 340,000.
The last two cuts are assumptions. No Gulf state publishes expat income by band.
03 · Against the deck
33m
1.15m
Your deck says 30 million. That is close to right as a headcount, and wrong as a market. Use 1.15 million, and keep 33 million as context.
04 · Who has put the money in a fund
No Gulf state gives expats a pension. All six pay a lump sum on leaving instead.
Bahrain
2024
UAE
2023
Saudi
Qatar
Kuwait
Oman
CompulsoryVoluntarySits on the employer's books
05 · The finding
Every expat in the Gulf is owed a lump sum when they leave. In four of the six countries, none of it is invested.
06 · What can't be known
How many expats earn enough to save. No Gulf state publishes income by band.
How many employers joined the voluntary schemes. Not published.
Whether Saudi or Qatar will follow Bahrain. Both have discussed it.