Kuwait: Population in Kuwait by nationality (Kuwaiti/ non-Kuwaiti), sex and age group (2021)

  Kuwaitis Non-Kuwaitis  Total
  Males  Females Total Males  Females Total Males  Females Total
0-4 83,414 79,546 162,960 56,135 53,590 109,725 139,549 133,136 272,685
5-9 85,289 81,776 167,065 68,530 65,277 133,807 153,819 147,053 300,872
10-14 83,776 81,356 165,132 62,186 58,970 121,156 145,962 140,326 286,288
15-19 75,620 73,648 149,268 47,045 43,945 90,990 122,665 117,593 240,258
20-24 66,968 64,580 131,548 58,796 39,134 97,930 125,764 103,714 229,478
25-29 64,791 63,924 128,715 243,517 85,211 328,728 308,308 149,135 457,443
30-34 53,845 56,100 109,945 304,960 131,543 436,503 358,805 187,643 546,448
35-39 47,090 51,800 98,890 302,034 135,890 437,924 349,124 187,690 536,814
40-44 38,634 43,752 82,386 280,044 121,228 401,272 318,678 164,980 483,658
45-49 33,400 38,542 71,942 205,847 92,266 298,113 239,247 130,808 370,055
50-54 28,444 33,411 61,855 151,150 60,835 211,985 179,594 94,246 273,840
55-59 23,497 28,108 51,605 90,286 33,874 124,160 113,783 61,982 175,765
60-64 16,613 21,812 38,425 40,568 16,610 57,178 57,181 38,422 95,603
65-69 11,990 16,791 28,781 17,588 7,973 25,561 29,578 24,764 54,342
70-74 6,822 10,791 17,613 7,371 4,275 11,646 14,193 15,066 29,259
75-79 4,671 6,865 11,536 3,256 2,427 5,683 7,927 9,292 17,219
80-84 2,909 3,664 6,573 1,438 1,268 2,706 4,347 4,932 9,279
85+ 1,865 2,612 4,477 877 1,057 1,934 2,742 3,669 6,411
Total 729,638 759,078 1,488,716 1,941,628 955,373 2,897,001 2,671,266 1,714,451 4,385,717

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).

  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.