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Al Qaed said that the 2024 survey is being conducted with the follow-ups of the government and under directives from His Excellency Minister of Interior General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Information & Communication Technology (MCICT), to implement national surveys and studies aimed at providing accurate and credible data for decision makers and government entities. The findings will be used to formulate plans, strategies, and policies that contribute to the Kingdom’s comprehensive development.

Al Qaed highlighted the periodic survey’s role in measuring the living standards of Bahrain’s citizens and residents, and identify social spending patterns, as well as demographic and economic factors impacting families.

The researchers selected by the iGA will conduct the pilot survey by collecting data from three electronic forms, a major transformation from previous methods which used paper forms. The eForms cover items related to households, individuals, income sources, and expenditures on commodities and services, including a daily record of family expenditures.

Al Qaed added that the survey’s main objectives are to estimate median income of families and individuals and their annual expenditures; update the basket of goods used for inflation accounting; develop economic, social, and environmental government programs; improve living conditions; meet citizens’ needs and gather data on living conditions necessary for formulating social aid initiatives.

Al Qaed encouraged Bahraini and non-Bahraini families to participate in the survey to ensure its success. All field researchers will present their IDs when visiting the families, in addition to providing an overview of the survey, its goals, and its importance. He emphasized that the utmost confidentiality will be maintained when collecting data, which will later be published as aggregates that won’t allow survey subjects to be identified.

The iGA has carried out Household income and expenditures surveys for decades. The first survey was in 1974-1975. This was followed by a second in 1983-1984, a third in 1994-1995, a fourth in 2005-2006, and a fifth in 2014-2015.