Kuwait: Non-Kuwaiti population born in Kuwait by nationality group, sex and age group (2021)

  Arabs Asians Africans Europeans North Americans South Americans Australians/

Oceanians
  M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T
 0-4 33,130 31,797 64,927 14,371 13,752 28,123 387 336 723 340 306 646 384 344 728 52 48 100 33 41 74
 5-9 37,641 36,196 73,837 12,573 11,775 24,348 171 176 347 256 284 540 389 333 722 52 41 93 42 47 89
 10-14 31,110 29,745 60,855 9,714 9,197 18,911 90 101 191 228 250 478 318 320 638 56 46 102 46 42 88
 15-19 21,876 21,286 43,162 5,941 5,466 11,407 53 44 97 147 149 296 193 181 374 48 50 98 26 22 48
 20-24 17,301 17,663 34,964 3,183 3,118 6,301 36 46 82 67 108 175 81 110 191 48 38 86 16 17 33
 25-29 16,641 16,126 32,767 2,110 1,854 3,964 51 103 154 69 83 152 96 148 244 44 44 88 21 24 45
 30-34 16,171 14,066 30,237 1,528 1,345 2,873 49 106 155 91 78 169 176 192 368 40 34 74 30 19 49
 35-39 17,058 14,146 31,204 1,953 1,475 3,428 47 57 104 126 102 228 182 154 336 40 33 73 26 22 48
 40-44 13,505 10,225 23,730 2,064 1,154 3,218 24 19 43 114 73 187 137 93 230 14 9 23 28 13 41
 45-49 9,041 6,741 15,782 1,483 704 2,187 12 14 26 107 36 143 109 62 171 18 2 20 11 4 15
 50+ 15,207 9,508 24,715 1,941 991 2,932 28 10 38 158 68 226 392 162 554 71 13 84 59 23 82
Total 228,681 207,499 436,180 56,861 50,831 107,692 948 1,012 1,960 1,703 1,537 3,240 2,457 2,099 4,556 483 358 841 338 274 612

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).

(c) Nationality group: collected according to the nationality of the head of the household.

Nationalities are grouped according to specific features common to certain population subgroups: language, geographic origin, etc. or according to internationally recognized categories such as: (Arab / non-Arab Asian countries / non-Arab African countries; European countries … etc.).

  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.