Employed population by nationality (Kuwaiti/ non-Kuwaiti), sex and educational status (2012)

	Kuwaitis			Non-Kuwaitis			Total
	males	females	total	males	females	total	males	females	total
Illiterate	457	1.230	1.687	69.719	24.255	93.974	70.176	25.485	95.661
Reads and writes	959	621	1.580	487.088	193.546	680.634	488.047	194.167	682.214
Elementary	24.820	9.665	34.485	73.365	16.767	90.132	98.185	26.432	124.617
Intermediate	63.215	31.426	94.641	329.838	107.226	437.064	393.053	138.652	531.705
High school diploma	59.043	44.204	103.247	153.989	42.112	196.101	213.032	86.316	299.348
Diploma	25.432	34.225	59.657	37.142	12.124	49.266	62.574	46.349	108.923
University degree	27.229	50.870	78.099	71.778	25.359	97.137	99.007	76.229	175.236
Postgraduate	2.298	984	3.282	3.829	948	4.777	6.127	1.932	8.059
NA	5.071	5.335	10.406	183.974	31.132	215.106	189.045	36.467	225.512
Total	208.524	178.560	387.084	1.410.722	453.469	1.864.191	1.619.246	632.029	2.251.275

Source: PACI

ANNEXED NOTE

1. Characteristics of data and definitions

The source of data used here is the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), an independant government body in charge of :

1- centralising all population and labour force data in order to manage a fully computerised population register

2- issuing mandatory civil identification cards to every resident of the country, regardless of age and nationality.

The other source of demographic and socioeconomic data on Kuwait is the Central Statistical Office (CSO), operating within the Planning Ministry. The CSO has conducted ten population and housing censuses since its inception in 1957.

Since 1995 a marked discrepancy was witnessed between PACI’ and CSO’ population figures. PACI’ database is connected electronically with other administrations and bodies registering demographic events and professional/ residency issues (births and death; departures and arrivals; end of service, residency and ID deliveries, etc.).

PACI’s records of residents’ movements is thus regularly updated, which limits the risk of population overcount. Therefore, it is more likely that residents were undercounted during CSO- Ministry of Planning’s census operations (see: Shah, N. Population of Kuwait. Structure and Dynamics, Kuwait: Kuwait University Academic Publication Council, 2010, chapter 1).

(a) Kuwaiti: the Kuwaiti nationality rests upon a document of Kuwaiti nationality or a certificate proving Kuwaiti nationality issued by the Ministry of Interior of Kuwait.

(b) Non-Kuwaiti: his/ her nationality is determined by the name of the State having issued the passport. The foreign national also entered Kuwait legally and has a stamp of residence.

This category includes the Bidoon, a category of stateless persons living in the Emirate. Kuwait’s Bidoon population originates from three broad categories:

1) those whose ancestors failed to apply for nationality or lacked necessary documentation at the time of Kuwait’s independence in 1961;

2) those recruited to work in Kuwait’s army or police force during the 1960s who permanently settled in Kuwait, along with their families;

3) children of Kuwaiti mothers and stateless or foreign fathers (see Human Rights Watch. Prisoners of the Past. Kuwaiti Bidun and the Burden of Statelessness, June 2011, p. 3).

(c) Population in the labour force: population aged 15 years and above, included in the labour market, either employed (in the government or private sector, as itinerant worker, employed in the domestic sector), or unemployed.

Note: figures of expatriates differ slightly between PACI’s various sources of data (database; tabulated data).

3. Period of data coverage: December 31st, 2012

The database is updated three times a year and the website presents only the most recent data.

4. Data availability

The statistics section of PACI’s website (http://www.paci.gov.kw/en/ (English); http://www.paci.gov.kw/ (Arabic)) provides population and socio-economic data broken down by nationality (Kuwaiti/ non-Kuwaiti). Some data are displayed by nationality groups.

Analytical tables and data crosstabulations are available for download in PDF, html, .png and Excel (.csv) formats.

Date of access: June 2013.