Gulf Labour Markets, Migration, and Population (GLMM) Programme

An international independent, non-partisan, non-profit programme hosted and supported by the Gulf Research Center. The programme provides data, analyses, and recommendations contributing to the improvement of understanding and management of Gulf labour migration, population, and labour markets, engaging with and respecting the viewpoints of all stakeholders.

Kuwait: Kuwaiti population aged 15 years and above by sex, age group and employment status (relation to labour force) (2021)

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  In labour force  Out of labour force  Not stated TOTAL
Governmental sector Non-governmental sector Unemployed Total Student Housewife  Retired or has income Total
15-19 M 190 132 26 348 68,308 0 0 68,308 6,964 75,620
F 30 48 10 88 64,823 1 0 64,824 8,736 73,648
T 220 180 36 436 133,131 1 0 133,132 15,700 149,268
20-24 M 12,994 2,575 1,230 16,799 41,547 0 2 41,549 8,620 66,968
F 11,055 1,552 304 12,911 45,935 10 0 45,945 5,724 64,580
T 24,049 4,127 1,534 29,710 87,482 10 2 87,494 14,344 131,548
25-29 M 35,087 8,104 2,596 45,787 11,196 0 49 11,245 7,759 64,791
F 38,513 5,775 1,460 45,748 10,290 66 10 10,366 7,810 63,924
T 73,600 13,879 4,056 91,535 21,486 66 59 21,611 15,569 128,715
30-34 M 34,520 9,046 1,999 45,565 4,471 0 192 4,663 3,617 53,845
F 38,556 6,595 1,788 46,939 4,405 201 88 4,694 4,467 56,100
T 73,076 15,641 3,787 92,504 8,876 201 280 9,357 8,084 109,945
35-39 M 32,346 7,231 1,407 40,984 2,544 0 597 3,141 2,965 47,090
F 35,289 6,583 1,698 43,570 3,037 381 540 3,958 4,272 51,800
T 67,635 13,814 3,105 84,554 5,581 381 1,137 7,099 7,237 98,890
40-44 M 26,489 4,471 1,061 32,021 1,203 0 3,199 4,402 2,211 38,634
F 28,361 5,504 1,425 35,290 1,997 854 1,993 4,844 3,618 43,752
T 54,850 9,975 2,486 67,311 3,200 854 5,192 9,246 5,829 82,386
45-49 M 18,012 3,024 1,067 22,103 649 0 9,212 9,861 1,436 33,400
F 19,119 4,389 1,281 24,789 2,304 1,715 6,866 10,885 2,868 38,542
T 37,131 7,413 2,348 46,892 2,953 1,715 16,078 20,746 4,304 71,942
50-54 M 9,826 1,943 859 12,628 356 0 14,242 14,598 1,218 28,444
F 9,545 2,932 1,048 13,525 2,410 3,898 11,197 17,505 2,381 33,411
T 19,371 4,875 1,907 26,153 2,766 3,898 25,439 32,103 3,599 61,855
55-59 M 3,649 1,058 690 5,397 99 0 17,109 17,208 892 23,497
F 3,417 1,451 801 5,669 858 7,174 12,060 20,092 2,347 28,108
T 7,066 2,509 1,491 11,066 957 7,174 29,169 37,300 3,239 51,605
60-64 M 1,252 733 267 2,252 23 0 13,776 13,799 562 16,613
F 993 762 72 1,827 258 7,542 10,821 18,621 1,364 21,812
T 2,245 1,495 339 4,079 281 7,542 24,597 32,420 1,926 38,425
> 65 M 1,657 1,426 717 3,800 13 0 19,228 19,241 5,216 28,257
F 886 704 554 2,144 208 25,294 10,309 35,811 2,768 40,723
T 2,543 2,130 1,271 5,944 221 25,294 29,537 55,052 7,984 68,980
Total M 176,022 39,743 11,919 227,684 130,409 0 77,606 208,015 41,460 477,159
F 185,764 36,295 10,441 232,500 136,525 47,136 53,884 237,545 46,355 516,400
T 361,786 76,038 22,360 460,184 266,934 47,136 131,490 445,560 87,815 993,559

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.

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).

“Non-governmental sector” is presumably the private sector.

  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: December 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.

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