POP 3.1 Kuwait: Population aged 10 and above by nationality (Kuwaiti/ non-Kuwaiti), sex and highest education level reached (December 2016)

Kuwaitis Non-Kuwaitis Total
males females Total males females Total males females Total
Illiterate 2,267 21,773 24,040 68,536 39,285 107,821 70,803 61,058 131,861
Reads and writes 4,099 7,006 11,105 696,514 286,809 983,323 700,613 293,815 994,428
Elementary 97,375 79,240 176,615 125,193 72,029 197,222 222,568 151,269 373,837
Intermediate 136,435 111,715 248,150 501,764 186,149 687,913 638,199 297,864 936,063
Secondary 97,141 100,401 197,542 183,033 96,695 279,728 280,174 197,096 477,270
Diploma 41,834 53,848 95,682 40,576 18,729 59,305 82,410 72,577 154,987
University degree 46,719 83,643 130,362 85,073 51,426 136,499 131,792 135,069 266,861
Postgraduate 3,552 1,583 5,135 4,721 1,747 6,468 8,273 3,330 11,603
NA 58,387 60,034 118,421 230,750 85,317 316,067 289,137 145,351 434,488
Total 487,809 519,243 1,007,052 1,936,160 838,186 2,774,346 2,423,969 1,357,429 3,781,398

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.

(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) NA: education level is unclear or not reported.

Classification used for education levels: ISCED.

2. Institution which provides data 

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI)

3. Period of data coverage: December 2016

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

4. Data availability

Analytical tables and data crosstabulations are available for download in PDF, html, .png and Excel (.csv) formats.

Date of access: June 2017.