Kuwait: Population by nationality group and age group (Kuwait, December 2013)

Kuwaitis     Non-Kuwaitis    TOTAL
Age group Arabs Asians Africans Europeans North Americans South Americans Australians- Oceanians TOTAL non-Kuwaitis
0-4 164,483 106,218 46,092 407 1,172 2,276 115 179 156,459 320,942
5-9 158,377 94,468 38,539 302 1,215 2,123 104 184 136,935 295,312
10-14 136,383 72,534 24,329 228 941 1,952 86 161 100,231 236,614
15-19 131,612 65,485 16,623 314 677 1,536 105 170 84,910 216,522
20-24 114,471 83,232 64,972 17,285 617 1,059 118 107 167,390 281,861
25-29 101,842 150,373 220,133 38,003 1,034 1,537 154 92 411,326 513,168
30-34 86,458 146,497 284,300 13,068 1,403 1,655 137 115 447,175 533,633
35-39 75,711 110,058 269,132 4,369 1,411 1,427 120 106 386,623 462,334
40-44 66,465 83,987 216,963 1,412 1,476 1,526 119 120 305,603 372,068
45-49 57,563 69,834 153,523 595 1,321 1,769 115 142 227,299 284,862
50-54 45,381 49,587 87,605 297 1,216 1,872 110 136 140,823 186,204
55-59 35,392 33,191 48,193 240 946 1,335 77 89 84,071 119,463
60-64 24,328 19,993 19,650 129 654 823 42 61 41,352 65,680
>65 44,033 21,173 9,957 54 558 632 30 44 32,448 76,481
TOTAL 1,242,499 1,106,630 1,500,011 76,703 14,641 21,522 1,432 1,706 2,722,645 3,965,144

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 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.).

 

2. Institution which provides data

 

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI)

 

3. Period of data coverage: 31 December 2013

 

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: March 2014