Economy of Kuwait

Economy of Kuwait
Kuwait City skyline
CurrencyKuwaiti dinar (KWD)
1 April – 31 March
Trade organisations
WTO, OPEC and GCC
Country group
Statistics
PopulationNeutral increase 4,310,108 (2023)[3]
GDP
  • Decrease $161.8 billion (nominal, 2024 est)[4]
  • Decrease $249.3 billion (PPP, 2024 est.)[4]
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • Negative increase6.1% (2022)
  • Positive decrease-2.2% (2023e)
  • Positive decrease-1.4% (2024f)[4]
GDP per capita
  • Decrease $32,290 (nominal, 2024 est.)[4]
  • Decrease $49,736 (PPP, 2024 est.)[4]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
agriculture (0.4%), industry (58.7%), services (40.9%) (2017 est.)[5]
Positive decrease3.6% (2023)[4]
  • Increase 0.847 very high (2022)[6] (49th)
  • N/A IHDI (2022)
Unemployment5.2% [5]
Main industries
petroleum, petrochemicals, steelmaking, cement, shipbuilding and repair, desalination, food processing, construction materials
External
Exports$40.16 billion (2020 est.)[7]
Export goods
oil and refined products, acyclic alcohols, motor cars and other motor vehicles, lightvessels, floating cranes, floating docks, dredgers.[8]
Main export partners
 India(+) 1.6%
 UAE(+) 1.1%
 Iraq(+) 0.9%
 Saudi Arabia(+) 0.8% (2020 est.)[8][9][10][11]
Imports$28.34 billion (2020 est.)[7]
Import goods
food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing
Main import partners
 China(-) 16.7%
 United States(+) 8.7%
 UAE(+) 8.6%
 Japan(+) 5.9% (2020 est.)[8]
Negative increase$48.91 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[5]
Public finances
Negative increase$13.74 billion (2021 est.)[12]
Revenues$24.97 billion (2020 est.)[5]
Expenses$71.58 billion (2020 est.)[5]
Economic aidN/A
Standard & Poor's:[13]
AA- (Domestic)
AA- (Foreign)
AA+ (T&C Assessment)
Outlook: Stable[14]
Moody's:[14]
Aa2
Outlook: Stable
Fitch:[14]
AA
Outlook: Stable
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Kuwait is a wealthy petroleum-based economy.[15] Kuwait is one of the richest countries in the world.[16][17][18] The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest-valued unit of currency in the world.[citation needed] According to the World Bank, Kuwait is the fifth richest country in the world by gross national income per capita.[19]

  1. ^ "Kuwait's Move from Frontier to Emerging Market". 14 December 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  2. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Population, total - Kuwait | Data". Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: October 2024". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Kuwait". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 2018. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Kuwait". IMF.org. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "Foreign Trade in Figures". Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2021. Kuwait exports to a wide number of countries, the main ones being India (1.6%), China (1.3%), United Arab Emirates (1.1%), Iraq (0.9%) and Saudi Arabia (0.8%). Kuwait's largest suppliers are China (16.7%), the United States (8.7%), the UAE (8.6%) and Japan (5.9%).
  9. ^ "Kuwait: Trade Statistics".
  10. ^ "Kuwait: Imports and Exports". Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Kuwait, Trade with World" (PDF). European Union. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Import Partners of Kuwait". CEIC Data. 2018. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Sovereigns rating list". Standard & Poor's. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  14. ^ a b c Rogers, Simon; Sedghi, Ami (15 April 2011). "How Fitch, Moody's and S&P rate each country's credit rating". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Kuwait". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 10 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  16. ^ "GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)", World Development Indicators database Archived 30 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, World Bank. Database updated on 14 April 2015.
  17. ^ GDP – per capita (PPP), The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency.
  18. ^ Economic Outlook Database, October 2015, International Monetary Fund Archived 14 February 2006 at Archive-It. Database updated on 6 October 2015.
  19. ^ Grant Suneson (7 July 2019). "These are the 25 richest countries in the world". USA Today. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2021.