Labour force by nationality (Kuwaiti/ non-Kuwaiti), sex and sector of economic activity (2012)

 Economic activities Kuwaitis Non-Kuwaitis Total
Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total
Agriculture, hunting and forestry 193 243 436 36410 591 37001 36603 834 37437
Fishing 5 1 6 37 7 44 42 8 50
Mining and quarrying 4431 874 5305 2015 80 2095 6446 954 7400
Manufacturing 7160 2250 9410 109664 6402 116066 116824 8652 125476
Electricity, gas and water supply 10864 2936 13800 1861 89 1950 12725 3025 15750
Construction 6246 5474 11720 178109 8798 186907 184355 14272 198627
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and households goods  6382 6632 13014 259253 22185 281438 265635 28817 294452
Hotels and restaurants 700 1330 2030 56352 7285 63637 57052 8615 65667
Transport, storage and communications 6534 2583 9117 56750 3230 59980 63284 5813 69097
Financial intermediation 5121 4182 9303 10721 2411 13132 15842 6593 22435
Real estate, renting and business activities 6888 3524 10412 77482 8341 85823 84370 11865 96235
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 130524 97551 228075 60113 22217 82330 190637 119768 310405
Education 7435 24988 32423 16898 18078 34976 24333 43066 67399
Health and social work 3997 7863 11860 11273 17691 28964 15270 25554 40824
Other community, social and personal service activities 1782 2081 3863 66532 14204 80736 68314 16285 84599
Private households with employed persons 112 61 173 260173 290325 550498 260285 290386 550671
Extra-territorial organizations and bodies 8 17 25 2176 717 2893 2184 734 2918
Not Stated 15661 22712 38373 221871 46569 268440 237532 69281 306813
Total 214043 185302 399345 1427690 469220 1896910 1641733 654522 2296255

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 having 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).

 

(c) Population in the labour force: population aged 15 years and above, included in the labour market, either employed (in the government or private sector, as itinerant worker, employed in the domestic sector), or unemployed.

 

Presented data include unemployed population.

 

Economic activities are categorised according to ISIC( Rev. 3) international classification of economic activity.

 

Note: figures of expatriates differ slightly between PACI’s various sources of data (database; tabulated data).

 

2. Institution which provides data

 

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI)

 

3. Period of data coverage: December 2012

 

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: June 2013.