Population by nationality (Kuwaiti/ non-Kuwaiti) and sex, 1990-2014

  Kuwaitis     Non-Kuwaitis     Total  
Year Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
1990 286,299 292,212 578,511 944,585 628,584 1,573,169 1,230,884 920,796 2,151,680
1993 325,892 331,601 657,493 682,161 305,973 988,134 1,008,053 637,574 1,645,627
1995 351,314 356,801 708,115 841,320 409,359 1,250,679 1,192,634 766,160 1,958,794
1996 363,476 368,927 732,403 914,327 447,159 1,361,486 1,277,803 816,086 2,093,889
1998 388,687 397,323 786,010 1,002,718 482,137 1,484,855 1,391,405 879,460 2,270,865
1999 401,433 410,822 812,255 970,865 471,834 1,442,699 1,372,298 882,656 2,254,954
2000 415,613 426,177 841,790 927,023 448,445 1,375,468 1,342,636 874,622 2,217,258
2001 429,209 441,074 870,283 960,390 478,429 1,438,819 1,389,599 919,503 2,309,102
2002 442,310 455,975 898,285 1,020,913 500,730 1,521,643 1,463,223 956,705 2,419,928
2003 456,226 471,460 927,686 1,098,878 520,120 1,618,998 1,555,104 991,580 2,546,684
2004 469,327 486,907 956,234 1,240,267 557,155 1,797,422 1,709,594 1,044,062 2,753,656
2005 486,089 506,128 992,217 1,391,322 607,650 1,998,972 1,877,411 1,113,778 2,991,189
2006 501,148 522,168 1,023,316 1,510,818 648,826 2,159,644 2,011,966 1,170,994 3,182,960
2007 516,631 537,966 1,054,597 1,615,273 729,767 2,345,040 2,131,904 1,267,733 3,399,637
2008 532,566 554,985 1,087,551 1,618,766 735,496 2,354,262 2,151,332 1,290,481 3,441,813
2009 548,290 570,620 1,118,910 1,591,935 774,036 2,365,971 2,140,225 1,344,656 3,484,881
2010 563,631 584,712 1,148,343 1,586,716 846,995 2,433,711 2,150,347 1,431,707 3,582,054
2011 580,558 602,616 1,183,174 1,641,135 872,983 2,514,118 2,221,693 1,475,599 3,697,292
2012 595,365 617,071 1,212,436 1,705,468 905,824 2,611,292 2,300,833 1,522,895 3,823,728
2013 610,545 631,954 1,242,499 1,772,413 950,232 2,722,645 2,382,958 1,582,186 3,965,144
2014 626,256 649,601 1,275,857 1,855,279 960,857 2,816,136 2,481,535 1,610,458 4,091,993

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 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).

2. Institution which provides data

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI)

3. Period of data coverage: 31 December, given years

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: March 2015