Kuwaitis		Non-Kuwaitis		Total
Year	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
1990	286,299	292,212	944,585	628,584	1,230,884	920,796
1993	325,892	331,601	682,161	305,973	1,008,053	637,574
1995	351,314	356,801	841,320	409,359	1,192,634	766,160
1996	363,476	368,927	914,327	447,159	1,277,803	816,086
1997	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
1998	388,687	397,323	1,002,718	482,137	1,391,405	879,460
1999	401,433	410,822	970,865	471,834	1,372,298	882,656
2000	415,613	426,177	927,023	448,445	1,342,636	874,622
2001	429,209	441,074	960,390	478,429	1,389,599	919,503
2002	442,310	455,975	1,020,913	500,730	1,463,223	956,705
2003	456,226	471,460	1,098,878	520,120	1,555,104	991,580
2004	469,327	486,907	1,240,267	557,155	1,709,594	1,044,062
2005	486,089	506,128	1,391,322	607,650	1,877,411	1,113,778
2006	501,148	522,168	1,510,818	648,826	2,011,966	1,170,994
2007	516,631	537,966	1,615,273	729,767	2,131,904	1,267,733
2008	532,566	554,985	1,618,766	735,496	2,151,332	1,290,481
2009	548,290	570,620	1,591,935	774,036	2,140,225	1,344,656
2010	563,631	584,712	1,586,716	846,995	2,150,347	1,431,707
2011	580,558	602,616	1,641,135	872,983	2,221,693	1,475,599
2012	595,365	617,071	1,705,468	905,824	2,300,833	1,522,895
2013	610,545	631,954	1,772,413	950,232	2,382,958	1,582,186
2014	626,256	649,601	1,855,279	960,857	2,481,535	1,610,458
2015	641,282	666,323	1,964,264	967,137	2,605,546	1,633,460
2016	656,084	681,609	2,089,302	984,129	2,745,386	1,665,738
2017	671,012	699,001	2,167,409	963,054	2,838,421	1,662,055
2018	686,475	716,638	2,253,768	964,757	2,940,243	1,681,395
2019	700,742	731,303	2,303,549	1,040,813	3,004,291	1,772,116
2020	714,936	745,034	2,177,731	1,033,012	2,892,667	1,778,046
2021	729,638	759,078	1,941,628	955,373	2,671,266	1,714,451
2022	744,238	772,838	2,188,819	1,087,673	2,933,057	1,860,511
2023	758,716	787,065	2,262,500	1,104,990	3,021,216	1,892,055
2024	773,304	792,864	2,214,667	1,100,419	2,987,971	1,893,283

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.
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).

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)
The Central Statistical Bureau
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 b

roken 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

Dec. 2024: Last population data available as of 14 March 2026.

Last date of access: 14 March 2026.

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.

Kuwait, National Population, Foreign Population

 

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