Kuwait: Population by nationality (Kuwaiti/ non-Kuwaiti) and sex (1990-2023)

		Kuwaitis			Non-Kuwaitis			Total
Year	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
1990	286,299	292,212	578,511	944,585	628,584	1,573,169	1,230,884	920,796	2,151,680
1993	325,892	331,601	657,493	682,161	305,973	988,134	1,008,053	637,574	1,645,627
1995	351,314	356,801	708,115	841,320	409,359	1,250,679	1,192,634	766,160	1,958,794
1996	363,476	368,927	732,403	914,327	447,159	1,361,486	1,277,803	816,086	2,093,889
1997	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
1998	388,687	397,323	786,010	1,002,718	482,137	1,484,855	1,391,405	879,460	2,270,865
1999	401,433	410,822	812,255	970,865	471,834	1,442,699	1,372,298	882,656	2,254,954
2000	415,613	426,177	841,790	927,023	448,445	1,375,468	1,342,636	874,622	2,217,258
2001	429,209	441,074	870,283	960,390	478,429	1,438,819	1,389,599	919,503	2,309,102
2002	442,310	455,975	898,285	1,020,913	500,730	1,521,643	1,463,223	956,705	2,419,928
2003	456,226	471,460	927,686	1,098,878	520,120	1,618,998	1,555,104	991,580	2,546,684
2004	469,327	486,907	956,234	1,240,267	557,155	1,797,422	1,709,594	1,044,062	2,753,656
2005	486,089	506,128	992,217	1,391,322	607,650	1,998,972	1,877,411	1,113,778	2,991,189
2006	501,148	522,168	1,023,316	1,510,818	648,826	2,159,644	2,011,966	1,170,994	3,182,960
2007	516,631	537,966	1,054,597	1,615,273	729,767	2,345,040	2,131,904	1,267,733	3,399,637
2008	532,566	554,985	1,087,551	1,618,766	735,496	2,354,262	2,151,332	1,290,481	3,441,813
2009	548,290	570,620	1,118,910	1,591,935	774,036	2,365,971	2,140,225	1,344,656	3,484,881
2010	563,631	584,712	1,148,343	1,586,716	846,995	2,433,711	2,150,347	1,431,707	3,582,054
2011	580,558	602,616	1,183,174	1,641,135	872,983	2,514,118	2,221,693	1,475,599	3,697,292
2012	595,365	617,071	1,212,436	1,705,468	905,824	2,611,292	2,300,833	1,522,895	3,823,728
2013	610,545	631,954	1,242,499	1,772,413	950,232	2,722,645	2,382,958	1,582,186	3,965,144
2014	626,256	649,601	1,275,857	1,855,279	960,857	2,816,136	2,481,535	1,610,458	4,091,993
2015	641,282	666,323	1,307,605	1,964,264	967,137	2,931,401	2,605,546	1,633,460	4,239,006
2016	656,084	681,609	1,337,693	2,089,302	984,129	3,073,431	2,745,386	1,665,738	4,411,124
2017	671,012	699,001	1,370,013	2,167,409	963,054	3,130,463	2,838,421	1,662,055	4,500,476
2018	686,475	716,638	1,403,113	2,253,768	964,757	3,218,525	2,940,243	1,681,395	4,621,638
2019	700,742	731,303	1,432,045	2,303,549	1,040,813	3,344,362	3,004,291	1,772,116	4,776,407
2020	714,936	745,034	1,459,970	2,177,731	1,033,012	3,210,743	2,892,667	1,778,046	4,670,713
2021	729,638	759,078	1,488,716	1,941,628	955,373	2,897,001	2,671,266	1,714,451	4,385,717
2022	744,238	772,838	1,517,076	2,188,819	1,087,673	3,276,492	2,933,057	1,860,511	4,793,568
2023	758,716	787,065	1,545,781	2,262,500	1,104,990	3,367,490	3,021,216	1,892,055	4,913,271

Source: PACI and CSB

ANNEXED NOTE

1. Characteristics of data and definitions

1990-2020: The source of data used 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.
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).

2021: census data. 2021 census was conducted based on administrative sourcess.
https://census.csb.gov.kw/index_EN
https://census.csb.gov.kw/

2021- : CSB publishes population and other statistics, based on the results of census 2021.
Estimates of Kuwaiti population are based on natural increase (births-deaths) during the year.
Estimates of non-Kuwaiti population are based on natural increase, arrival and departures during the year.

Date of reference: end of year.

2. Institution which provides data

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI)
https://www.csb.gov.kw/Default

3. Period of data coverage:  31 December 

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

4. Data availability

1990-2019: The statistics section of PACI’s website

http://www.paci.gov.kw/en/
http://www.paci.gov.kw/

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 and statistics has been inaccessible from outside Kuwait since 2019.

2021- : Central Statistical Bureau (CSB)

https://www.csb.gov.kw/Default
Section “Statistics and Bulletins”; “Population Statistics”; and “Population estimates”
https://www.csb.gov.kw/Pages/Statistics_en?ID=67&ParentCatID=1
Population estimates are also available in CBS Annual Statistical Abstracts (section “General Statistics”)
https://www.csb.gov.kw/Pages/Statistics_en.aspx?ID=18&ParentCatID=2

Date of access:  October 2024.

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.

Keywords: Kuwait, National Population, Foreign Population