Population by nationality group, sex and administrative region (governorate) of residence (Kuwait) (2012)

  Nationality group Kuwaitis Arabs Asians Africans Europeans North South Australians- Total GRAND
Governorate Sex           Americans Americans Oceanians Non-Kuwaitis TOTAL
Capital males 111.679 44.801 124.085 816 724 1.046 77 88 171.637 283.316
  females 117.928 20.482 82.015 12.368 711 845 55 66 116.542 234.470
  total 229.607 65.283 206.100 13.184 1.435 1.891 132 154 288.179 517.786
Hawalli males 102.623 200.055 145.450 1.006 3.962 5.825 316 487 357.101 459.724
  females 105.489 122.741 124.862 13.088 3.890 4.572 287 457 269.897 375.386
  total 208.112 322.796 270.312 14.094 7.852 10.397 603 944 626.998 835.110
Ahmadi males 126.535 89.858 256.070 1.277 1.566 5.635 202 140 354.748 481.283
  females 128.752 47.862 77.823 8.349 864 2.168 154 110 137.330 266.082
  total 255.287 137.720 333.893 9.626 2.430 7.803 356 250 492.078 747.365
Jahra males 77.630 109.296 79.682 1.448 137 238 94 64 190.959 268.589
  females 81.474 87.147 31.185 9.409 122 180 33 50 128.126 209.600
  total 159.104 196.443 110.867 10.857 259 418 127 114 319.085 478.189
Farwaniya males 107.812 236.433 337.376 1.975 558 689 104 79 577.214 685.026
  females 112.914 87.117 113.221 11.063 369 544 63 52 212.429 325.343
  total 220.726 323.550 450.597 13.038 927 1.233 167 131 789.643 1.010.369
Mubarak Al Kabeer males 68.951 8.469 41.824 229 226 203 32 11 50.994 119.945
  females 70.381 6.796 25.854 6.255 348 186 28 11 39.478 109.859
  total 139.332 15.265 67.678 6.484 574 389 60 22 90.472 229.804
Not stated males 135 1.969 734 36 34 35 2 5 2.815 2.950
  females 133 1.581 330 44 23 42 1 1 2.022 2.155
  total 268 3.550 1.064 80 57 77 3 6 4.837 5.105
TOTAL males 595.365 690.881 985.221 6.787 7.207 13.671 827 874 1.705.468 2.300.833
  females 617.071 373.726 455.290 60.576 6.327 8.537 621 747 905.824 1.522.895
  total 1.212.436 1.064.607 1.440.511 67.363 13.534 22.208 1.448 1.621 2.611.292 3.823.728

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) Nationality group: collected according to the nationality of the head of the household.

Nationalities are grouped along specific features common to certain population subgroups: language, geographic origin, etc. or according to internationally recognized categories such as: (Arab / non-Arab Asian countries / non-Arab African countries; European countries … etc.).

 

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.