Kuwait: Kuwaiti population (10 years and above) by sex, age group, and educational level (2021)

    Illiterate Read and Write Primary Interme–diate Secondary Diploma University Post-Graduate  Not Stated Total
10-14 Males 0 605 61,006 0 0 0 0 0 22,165 83,776
Females 0 304 60,246 0 0 0 0 0 20,806 81,356
Total 0 909 121,252 0 0 0 0 0 42,971 165,132
15-19 Males 0 263 3,893 54,097 15,378 0 0 0 1,989 75,620
Females 0 160 2,488 49,561 19,976 0 0 0 1,463 73,648
Total 0 423 6,381 103,658 35,354 0 0 0 3,452 149,268
20-24 Males 1 233 3,457 29,967 23,774 1,596 5,529 18 2,393 66,968
Females 2 175 1,100 19,941 34,887 1,150 5,692 26 1,607 64,580
Total 3 408 4,557 49,908 58,661 2,746 11,221 44 4,000 131,548
25-29 Males 2 44 6,391 15,051 16,432 8,155 15,822 851 2,043 64,791
Females 16 251 2,054 8,604 19,289 7,130 24,549 419 1,612 63,924
Total 18 295 8,445 23,655 35,721 15,285 40,371 1,270 3,655 128,715
30-34 Males 4 32 5,203 10,723 12,601 9,562 12,926 961 1,833 53,845
Females 43 543 2,432 5,354 12,591 12,175 20,562 559 1,841 56,100
Total 47 575 7,635 16,077 25,192 21,737 33,488 1,520 3,674 109,945
35-39 Males 1 33 3,227 11,067 10,839 9,717 9,590 1,127 1,489 47,090
Females 32 467 1,801 6,505 9,188 13,924 17,207 759 1,917 51,800
Total 33 500 5,028 17,572 20,027 23,641 26,797 1,886 3,406 98,890
40-44 Males 0 29 3,294 9,756 9,283 6,926 7,088 987 1,271 38,634
Females 24 271 2,110 6,565 7,626 9,308 15,264 628 1,956 43,752
Total 24 300 5,404 16,321 16,909 16,234 22,352 1,615 3,227 82,386
45-49 Males 1 53 4,603 9,163 6,038 5,524 5,853 734 1,431 33,400
Females 21 178 2,484 8,413 5,266 6,324 12,704 478 2,674 38,542
Total 22 231 7,087 17,576 11,304 11,848 18,557 1,212 4,105 71,942
50-54 Males 1 24 2,590 9,514 5,265 4,790 4,446 624 1,190 28,444
Females 57 100 2,353 8,881 5,111 4,561 8,893 281 3,174 33,411
Total 58 124 4,943 18,395 10,376 9,351 13,339 905 4,364 61,855
55-60 Males 2 16 1,449 6,333 5,440 3,983 4,692 455 1,127 23,497
Females 72 52 2,286 6,473 4,348 4,341 6,552 209 3,775 28,108
Total 74 68 3,735 12,806 9,788 8,324 11,244 664 4,902 51,605
60-64 Males 98 218 1,191 4,019 3,067 3,087 3,861 616 456 16,613
Females 2,526 1,059 1,891 4,347 2,697 3,922 4,293 213 864 21,812
Total 2,624 1,277 3,082 8,366 5,764 7,009 8,154 829 1,320 38,425
65 + Males 1,259 2,521 3,624 5,834 3,392 4,025 4,865 1,417 1,320 28,257
Females 14,789 4,264 3,877 5,834 2,640 4,292 3,555 458 1,014 40,723
Total 16,048 6,785 7,501 11,668 6,032 8,317 8,420 1,875 2,334 68,980
Total Males 1,369 4,071 99,928 165,524 111,509 57,365 74,672 7,790 38,707 560,935
Females 17,582 7,824 85,122 130,478 123,619 67,127 119,271 4,030 42,703 597,756
Total 18,951 11,895 185,050 296,002 235,128 124,492 193,943 11,820 81,410 1,158,691

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 independent 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.

Another 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’s and CSO’s population figures. PACI’s 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 which 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).

(The children of Kuwaiti mothers and non-Kuwaiti fathers (with specific nationality) inherit the father’s nationality. They are stateless if the father is stateless).

Classification used for education levels: ISCED. 

  1. Institution which provides data

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI)

  1. Period of data coverage: 31 December

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

  1. 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.

PACI website has been inaccessible from outside Kuwait since 2019.

Last date of access: September 2022.

GLMM and GRC cannot guarantee that the link to access the source will not change; that the information will not be removed from the website it was obtained from; that no geo-blockages will be imposed; or that the information will not be available for any another reason.