Demographics of Kuwait

Kuwaiti youth celebrating Kuwait's independence and liberation, 2011

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Kuwait.

Kuwaiti citizens accounted for 40% of Kuwait's total population in 2011,[1] the rest is foreigners. The majority of Kuwait's citizen population is Muslim; there are no official figures, but it is estimated that 60%–70% are Sunni and 30%–40% are Shias.[2] Kuwait has a native Christian community; in 1999, there were 400 Christian Kuwaiti citizens.[3] There is also a small number of Bahá'í Kuwaiti citizens.[4] The country has a large community of expatriate Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs.[4]

Kuwait consists of six governorates: Hawalli, Asimah, Farwaniyah, Jahra, Ahmadi and Mubarak Al-Kabeer. Most Kuwaitis live in Hawalli, Asimah and Farwaniyah governorates.[5] The governorates of Jahra, Ahmadi and Mubarak Al-Kabeer are outlying areas (manatiq kharijiyya).[5] The government and people of Kuwait consider the high level of immigrants to be a problem.

Religions

Most of Kuwait's citizen population is Muslim; there are no official figures, but it is estimated that 60%-70% are Sunni and 30%-40% are Shias.[2] There are 100,000 non-citizen Shia residents in Kuwait and there are no estimates for the non-citizen Sunni residents.[4]

In 2001, there were 525,000 Sunni Kuwaiti citizens, 300,000 Shia Kuwaiti citizens and 820,000 Kuwaiti citizens in total thus Sunnis formed 64% and Shias formed 36.5% of the Kuwaiti citizen population.[6] In 2002, the US Department of State reported that Shia Kuwaitis formed 30%-40% of Kuwait's citizen population,[7] noting there were 525,000 Sunni Kuwaiti citizens and 855,000 Kuwaiti citizens in total (61% Sunnis, 39% Shias).[7] In 2004, there were 600,000 Sunni Kuwaitis citizens, 300,000-350,000 Shia Kuwaiti citizens and 913,000 Kuwaiti citizens in total.[8]

Kuwait also has a native Christian community. In 1999, there were 400 Christian Kuwaiti citizens.[3] There is also a small number of Bahá'í Kuwaiti citizens.[4] Most foreigners in Kuwait are Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Buddhist.[4]

Governorates

Further information: Governorates of Kuwait

Kuwait consists of six governorates: Hawalli, Asimah, Farwaniyah, Jahra, Ahmadi and Mubarak Al-Kabeer.[5] Most Kuwaitis live in the governorates of Hawalli, Asimah and Farwaniyah.[5] The governorates of Jahra, Ahmadi and Mubarak Al-Kabeer are outlying areas (manatiq kharijiyya).[5]

Governorate Kuwaiti citizen population
Hawalli Governorate 213,025
Al Asimah Governorate (Capital) 232,727
Al Farwaniyah Governorate 224,535
Al Jahra Governorate 167,404
Al Ahmadi Governorate 262,178
Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate 142,374
TOTAL 1,242,499
Source: 2013 Population Census - The Public Authority for Civil Information

Historical populations

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1950152,000—    
1960264,000+73.7%
1970753,000+185.2%
19801,377,000+82.9%
19902,088,000+51.6%
20001,941,000−7.0%
20102,737,000+41.0%
Source:[9]
Population of Kuwait according to nationality
census year Kuwaiti non-Kuwaiti Total Change
Number % Number % Number %
1975307,75530.9 687,08269 994,837-
1985470,47335 1,226,82865 1,697,30170.6
1995653,61641.5 921,95458.5 1,575,570-7.2
2005860,32439.2 1,333,32760.8 2,193,65139.2
20111,089,96936 1,975,88164 3,065,85039.8
20131,403,96233 2,291,35467 3,695,31620

The biggest population difficulty in Kuwait involves the Bedoon, a stateless people numbering just over 100,000 who are classed as illegal residents and who are trying to claim Kuwaiti citizenship.[10] Critics argue that these people are Arabs who migrated from Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia; a large part of the problem the Bedoon face is that these other states do not consider them as their nationals either.[11] In 2013, a law was passed to grant citizenship to 4,000 of these people as part of an attempt to resolve the problem. However, the government has said that only a third of the Bedoon would qualify for possible naturalization as it considers that the rest hold other nationalities, with officials alleging that they have destroyed their documents in order to claim Kuwaiti citizenship.[10]

Vital statistics

UN estimates

[12]

Period Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year CBR* CDR* NC* TFR* IMR*
1950-1955 8 000 2 000 6 00043.712.331.47.21113
1955-1960 9 000 2 000 7 00040.09.630.47.2190
1960-1965 16 000 3 000 13 00043.47.635.87.3170
1965-1970 30 000 4 000 26 00048.86.342.57.4153
1970-1975 43 000 5 000 38 00047.65.242.46.9040
1975-1980 49 000 5 000 44 00040.74.236.55.8929
1980-1985 58 000 5 000 52 00037.13.433.65.1022
1985-1990 51 000 5 000 45 00026.52.823.73.3416
1990-1995 33 000 5 000 28 00018.02.715.32.2013
1995-2000 43 000 5 000 38 00024.13.021.12.9311
2000-2005 39 000 6 000 32 00018.53.115.42.2410
2005-2010 47 000 8 000 39 00018.73.115.62.328
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)
Registered births and deaths

[13][14]

Average population (x 1000) Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000)
1961 296 12 9422 50410 438 43.78.435.2
1962 337 15 2042 18013 024 45.16.538.6
1963 384 17 3972 13915 258 45.45.639.8
1964 433 19 4282 61816 810 44.86.038.8
1965 484 21 9502 45419 496 45.35.140.3
1966 536 23 7322 81320 919 44.35.339.0
1967 588 28 3343 11125 223 48.25.342.9
1968 642 33 0263 34629 680 51.55.246.3
1969 697 35 1353 37831 757 50.44.845.6
1970 753 33 8423 73530 107 44.95.040.0
1971 811 35 5583 83231 726 43.84.739.1
1972 870 37 6884 14933 539 43.34.838.5
1973 931 40 1654 60135 564 43.24.938.2
1974 992 41 0604 69336 367 41.44.736.7
1975 1 054 42 8614 77838 083 40.74.536.1
1976 1 116 46 0394 66141 378 41.34.237.1
1977 1 179 46 8645 36541 499 39.84.635.2
1978 1 243 48 0104 93643 074 38.64.034.7
1979 1 309 48 2735 02843 245 36.93.833.0
1980 1 377 51 0904 93246 158 37.13.633.5
1981 1 446 52 0414 67847 363 36.03.232.8
1982 1 514 54 2574 99249 265 35.83.332.5
1983 1 584 55 6174 65450 963 35.12.932.2
1984 1 660 56 7764 54452 232 34.22.731.5
1985 1 742 55 0874 71150 376 31.62.728.9
1986 1 836 53 8454 39049 455 29.32.426.9
1987 1 937 52 4124 11348 299 27.12.124.9
1988 2 028 53 0804 58148 499 26.22.323.9
1989 2 084 52 8584 62848 230 25.42.223.1
1990 2 088
1991 2 031 20 6093 38017 229 10.11.78.5
1992 1 924 34 8173 36931 448 18.11.816.3
1993 1 796 37 3793 44133 938 20.81.918.9
1994 1 688 38 8683 46435 404 23.02.121.0
1995 1 628 41 1693 78137 388 25.32.323.0
1996 1 628 44 6203 81240 808 27.42.325.1
1997 1 679 42 8154 01738 798 25.52.423.1
1998 1 764 41 4244 21637 208 23.52.421.1
1999 1 857 41 1354 18736 948 22.12.319.9
2000 1 941 41 8434 22737 616 21.62.219.4
2001 2 010 41 3424 36436 978 20.62.218.4
2002 2 070 43 4904 34239 148 21.02.118.9
2003 2 127 43 9824 42439 558 20.72.118.6
2004 2 189 47 2744 79342 481 21.62.219.4
2005 2 264 50 9414 78446 157 22.52.120.4
2006 2 351 52 7595 24747 512 22.42.220.2
2007 2 448 53 5875 29348 294 21.92.219.7
2008 2 548 54 5715 70148 870 21.42.219.2
2009 2 778 56 5036 26650 237 20.32.318.1
2010 2 933 57 5335 44852 085 19.61.917.8
2011 3 099 58 1985 33952 859 18.81.717.1

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Age structure
Population growth rate
Gender ratio
Life expectancy at birth
Total fertility rate
Nationality
Ethnic groups (by nationality)

From the 2011 census and official 2012 figures of non-nationals:

Country Population Total Non-nationals as proportion of whole
Indian647,000
Bangladeshi189,000
Pakistani120,000
Sri Lankan110,000
Nepali52,000
Afghan14,000
Total South Asia 1,132,00034%
Egyptian453,000
Syrian131,000
Jordanian/Palestinian53,000
Lebanese42,000
Iraqi15,000
Yemeni11,000
Total Other Arab 705,00021%
Iranian43,00043,000 1%
Filipino142,000
Ethiopian74,000
Indonesian19,000
American13,000
Other 248,0008%
Total 2,128,00064%

Note:

Languages
Literacy

References

  1. ↑ "Annual Statistical Abstract 2011". Kuwait Central Statistical Bureau. 2011. "Chapter 3: Population".
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The New Middle East, Turkey, and the Search for Regional Stability" (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. April 2008. p. 93. Shiites comprise 60 percent of the population in Bahrain, 40 percent in Kuwait, 14 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 35 percent in Lebanon.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Department. 1999.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "International Religious Freedom Report for 2012". US State Department. 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "2013 Population Census". Government of Kuwait. 2013.
  6. ↑ "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Department. 2001.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Department. 2002.
  8. ↑ "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Department. 2004.
  9. ↑ World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Kuwait MPs pass law to naturalise 4,000 stateless Bidun". BBC News. 20 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "Stateless in Kuwait: Who Are the Bidoon?". Open Society Foundations. 24 March 2011.
  12. ↑ World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
  13. ↑ United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
  14. ↑ Central Statistical Bureau