Kuwait: Population aged 15 years and above by nationality (Kuwaiti/non-Kuwaiti), sex and relation to labour force (December 2021)

  Kuwaitis Non-Kuwaitis Total
  Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total
In labour force Gov.

sector

 176,022 185,764 361,786 75,033 40,109 115,142 251,055 225,873 476,928
Non-gov.

sector

 39,743 36,295 76,038 1,224,841 127,082 1,351,923 1,264,584 163,377 1,427,961
Domestic sector 0 0 0 309,913 326,150 636,063 309,913 326,150 636,063
Unemployed 11,919 10,441 22,360 3,552 445 3,997 15,471 10,886 26,357
Total 227,684 232,500 460,184 1,613,339 493,786 2,107,125 1,841,023 726,286 2,567,309
Out of labour force Student 130,409 136,525 266,934 86,733 95,861 182,594 217,142 232,386 449,528
Housewife 0 47,136 47,136 0 131,102 131,102 0 178,238 178,238
Retired or has income 77,606 53,884 131,490 602 13 615 78,208 53,897 132,105
Total 208,015 237,545 445,560 87,335 226,976 314,311 295,350 464,521 759,871
Not stated 41,460 46,355 87,815 54,103 56,774 110,877 95,563 103,129 198,692
Total 477,159 516,400 993,559 1,754,777 777,536 2,532,313 2,231,936 1,293,936 3,525,872

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.