Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

has a petroleum-based economy that is classified as emerging and

high-income A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a country with a gross national income per capita of US$14,005 or more in 2023, calculated using the Atlas method. While the term "high-income" is often used interchangeably with "First World" ...

. By various per-capita measures of economic output,

is one of the wealthiest countries in the world."GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)", World Development Indicators database
, World Bank. Database updated on 14 April 2015.

Energy

Petroleum and natural gas

In 1934, the Emir of Kuwait granted an oil concession to the Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC), jointly owned by the

Anglo-Persian Oil Company The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC; ) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling numbe ...

(later

British Petroleum Company BP p.l.c. (formerly The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. and BP Amoco p.l.c.; stylised in all lowercase) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in London, England. It is ...

) and

Gulf Oil Corporation Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger with Stan ...

In 1976, the Kuwaiti Government nationalized KOC. The

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (; KPC) is Kuwait's major national oil company, headquartered in Al Kuwait. The activities of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation are focused on petroleum exploration, production, petrochemicals, refining, marketing, a ...

(KPC), an integrated international oil company, is the parent company of the government's operations in the petroleum sector, and includes Kuwait Oil Company, which produced oil and gas; Kuwait National Petroleum Co., refining and domestic sales; Petrochemical Industries Co., producing ammonia and urea; Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co., with several concessions in developing countries; Kuwait Oil Tanker Co.; and Santa Fe International Corp. The latter, purchased outright in 1982, gives KPC a worldwide presence in the petroleum industry. KPC also has purchased from Gulf Oil Co. refineries and associated service stations in the Benelux nations and Scandinavia, as well as storage facilities and a network of service stations in Italy. In 1987, KPC bought a 19% share in British Petroleum, which was later reduced to 10%. KPC markets its products in Europe under the brand Q8 and is interested in the markets of the United States and Japan. Kuwait has about of recoverable oil reserves. Estimated capacity, before the war, was about . During the Iraqi occupation, Kuwait's oil-producing capacity was reduced to practically nothing. However, tremendous recovery and improvements have been made since. Oil production was by the end of 1992, and pre-war capacity was restored in 1993. Kuwait's production capacity is estimated to be . Kuwait plans to increase its capacity to by 2005.. As part of Kuwait Vision 2035, Kuwait aims to position itself as a global hub for the petrochemical industry.

Al Zour Refinery The Al Zour Refinery is an oil refinery in southern Kuwait. It is the second-largest refinery in the Middle East and an essential part of Kuwait Vision 2035. It is Kuwait's largest environmental friendly oil refinery. Al Zour Refinery is a Kuw ...

is the largest refinery in the Middle East. Al Zour Refinery is a Kuwait-China cooperation project under the

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

Renewable energy

As part of Kuwait Vision 2035, Kuwait inaugurated its largest renewable energy park, Shagaya Renewable Energy Park, which includes concentrated solar power, solar photovoltaic, and wind power plants. The park consists of four phases with a target capacity of 4,000 MW. It is set to be one of the largest renewable energy parks in the world.

Steel manufacturing

Steel manufacturing is Kuwait's second biggest industry. United Steel Industrial Company (KWT Steel) is Kuwait's main steel manufacturing company, the company caters to all of Kuwait's domestic market demands (particularly construction). Kuwait is self-sufficient in steel.

Agriculture

In 2016, Kuwait's food self-sufficiency ratio was 49.5% in vegetables, 38.7% in meat, 12.4% in dairy, 24.9% in fruits, and 0.4% in cereals. 8.5% of Kuwait's entire territory consists of agricultural land, while arable land covers 0.6% of Kuwait's entire territory. Historically, Jahra was a predominantly agricultural area. There are currently various farms in Jahra. In 2017, agriculture (including fisheries) accounted for almost 0.4 percent of the

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

. Around 4 percent of the economically active population works in agriculture, almost all foreigners. The majority of farm owners are investors. The total agricultural land covered 1,521 km² in 2014. The agriculture industry is hampered by the limited water and arable land. The government has experimented in growing food through

hydroponics Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of #Passive sub-irrigation, hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral Plant nutrition, nutrient Solution (chemi ...

and carefully managed farms. However, most of the soil which was suitable for farming in south central Kuwait was destroyed when Iraqi troops set fire to oil wells in the area and created vast "oil lakes". Fish and shrimp are plentiful in territorial waters, and largescale

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

has been undertaken locally and in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Finance

Kuwait has a leading position in the financial industry in the GCC. The Emir has promoted the idea that Kuwait should focus its energies, in terms of economic development, on the financial industry. The historical preeminence of Kuwait (among the Gulf monarchies) in finance dates back to the founding of the

National Bank of Kuwait The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is a Kuwaiti multinational bank headquartered in Kuwait City and established in 1952. It is the largest financial institution in Kuwait. It operates 138 branches across 13 countries, seven of which are in the ...

in 1952. The bank was the first local publicly traded corporation in the Gulf. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, an alternative stock market, trading in shares of Gulf companies, emerged in Kuwait, the Souk Al-Manakh. At its peak, its market capitalization was the third highest in the world, behind only the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and ahead of the UK and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Kuwait has a large wealth-management industry. Kuwaiti investment companies administer more assets than those of any other GCC country, save the much larger Saudi Arabia. The Kuwait Financial Centre, in a rough calculation, estimated that Kuwaiti firms accounted for over one-third of the total assets under management in the GCC. The relative strength of Kuwait in the financial industry extends to its stock market. For many years, the total valuation of all companies listed on the Kuwaiti exchange far exceeded the value of those on any other GCC bourse, except Saudi Arabia. In 2011, financial and banking companies made up more than half of the market capitalization of the Kuwaiti bourse; among all the Gulf states, the market capitalization of Kuwaiti financial-sector firms was, in total, behind only that of Saudi Arabia. In recent years, Kuwaiti investment companies have invested large percentages of their assets abroad, and their foreign assets have become substantially larger than their domestic assets. Kuwait is a major source of foreign economic assistance to other states through the

Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) (), commonly known as the Kuwait Fund, is the State of Kuwait’s agency for the provision and administration of financial and technical assistance to developing countries. History and profil ...

, an autonomous state institution created in 1961 on the pattern of Western and international development agencies. Over the years aid was annually provided to Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, as well as the Palestine Liberation Organization. In 1974, the fund's lending mandate was expanded to include all developing countries in the world.

Reserve funds

The

Kuwait Investment Authority The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) is the State owned sovereign wealth fund of the State of Kuwait, managing the state's reserve and the state's future generation fund, also known as "Ajyal Fund". Founded in 1953, the KIA is the world's old ...

(KIA) is Kuwait's

sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...

specializing in foreign investment. The KIA is the world's oldest sovereign wealth fund. Since 1953, the Kuwaiti government has directed investments into Europe, the United States and the

Asia–Pacific The Asia–Pacific (APAC) also Known as Indo-Pacific is the region of the world adjoining the western Pacific Ocean. The region's precise boundaries vary depending on context, but countries and territories in Australasia, East Asia, and Southea ...

. In 2021, the holdings were valued at around $700 billion in assets. It was the 3rd largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. The KIA manages two funds: the General Reserve Fund (GRF) and Future Generations Fund (FGF). The GRF is the main treasurer for the government. It receives all state revenues and all national expenditures are paid out of this fund. The KIA does not disclose its financial assets in public, but it is estimated that the KIA has $410 billion in assets as of February 2014. The KIA was the main source of capital for the Kuwaiti government during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. The Kuwaiti government relied on the KIA to pay for coalition expenses and postwar reconstruction. The KIA was worth $100 billion prior to 1990, KIA funds were depleted to $40–$50 billion after the Gulf War. In July 2023, Kuwait plans to create a new sovereign fund, Ciyada, in partnership with the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA). While the value of the fund has not been specified, the KIA, which currently manages over $800 billion in assets, will play a significant role in studying and implementing the proposed fund. The aim is to develop the local economy, attract foreign investment, and finance major projects to promote economic diversification in Kuwait. ;Future Generations Fund The Future Generations Fund (FGF) was created in 1976 by transferring 50% from the general reserve fund at that time. The FGF is a saving funds for future generations. 25% of all state revenues are annually transferred to the fund. All of the FGF is invested abroad, with an estimated 75% invested in the US and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the rest in emerging markets, mainly China and India.

Health

Kuwait has a state-funded

healthcare system A health system, health care system or healthcare system is an organization of people, institutions, and resources that delivers health care services to meet the health needs of target populations. There is a wide variety of health systems aroun ...

, which provides treatment without charge to Kuwaiti nationals. There are outpatient clinics in every residential area in Kuwait. A public insurance scheme exists to provide reduced cost healthcare to expatriates. Private healthcare providers also run medical facilities in the country, available to members of their insurance schemes. As part of

Kuwait Vision 2035 Kuwait Vision 2035 (Arabic: رؤية الكويت 2035, Romanized: Ru'iyat Al-Kuwayt 2035) is an undergoing strategic development plan which outlines Kuwait’s aspirations to transform towards a globally competitive nation by the year 2035. It ...

, many new hospitals have opened. In the years leading up to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic, Kuwait invested in its health care system at a rate that was proportionally higher than most other GCC countries. As a result, the public hospital sector significantly increased its capacity. Kuwait currently has 20 public hospitals. The new Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital is considered the largest hospital in the Middle East. Kuwait also has 16 private hospitals.

Entrepreneurship

In the past five years, there has been a significant rise in

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

and small business creation in Kuwait. The

informal sector An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countri ...

is also on the rise, mainly due to the popularity of Instagram businesses. In 2020, Kuwait ranked fourth in the MENA region in startup funding after the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Many Kuwaiti entrepreneurs use the Instagram-based business model.

Tourism

In 2020, Kuwait's domestic travel and tourism spending reached $6.1 billion (up from $1.6 billion in 2019) with family tourism a rapidly growing segment. The WTTC named Kuwait as one of the world's fastest-growing countries in travel and tourism

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

in 2019, with 11.6% year-on-year growth. In 2016, the tourism industry generated nearly $500 million in revenue. In 2015, tourism accounted for 1.5 percent of the

. In 2023, there was a rise in the spending of Kuwaiti citizens on tourism and travel, recorded to be 4.39 billion dinars, marking an increase of 9.2% from the 4 billion dinars recorded in 2022. The surge in tourism expenditures is largely attributable to the introduction of new travel destinations, expanded offerings from airlines catering to family travel, and an increase in interest in events like the

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Season and other festivities. The first quarter of 2023 saw the highest spending (1.36 billion dinars), followed by the second (1.01 billion dinars), third (1.15 billion dinars), and the fourth (870 million dinars), making it the year with the highest spending on travel by Kuwaiti citizens since the outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Moreover, spending by foreign tourists in Kuwait increased by approximately 60%, reaching 533.3 million dinars by the end of 2023, up from 332.6 million dinars in 2022. The

Amiri Diwan The Amiri Diwan of Kuwait ( Al-Diwan Al-Amiri) serves as the royal court of the Emir of Kuwait. History Due to Kuwait's unique geographical position, it has been a major trading centre. This was especially evident during the reign of Sheikh Mubar ...

recently inaugurated the new

Kuwait National Cultural District The Kuwait National Cultural District (also known as the KNCD) is multibillion-dollar development project that focuses on the arts and culture in Kuwait. With a capital cost of more than US$1 billion, the project is one of the largest cultural inves ...

(KNCD), which comprises Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre, Al Shaheed Park, and Al Salam Palace. With a capital cost of more than US$1 billion, the project is one of the largest cultural investments in the world. In November 2016, the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre opened. It is the largest cultural centre and opera house in the Middle East. New Kuwait. The Kuwait National Cultural District is a member of the

Global Cultural Districts Network The Global Cultural Districts Network (GCDN) is a federation of global centers of arts and culture. Its members represent cities, cultural districts, and cultural institutions from around the world, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canad ...

. The annual "Hala Febrayer" festival attracts tourists from neighboring GCC countries, and includes a variety of events including music concerts, parades, and carnivals. The festival is a month-long commemoration of the

liberation of Kuwait The Liberation of Kuwait campaign was between 24 and 28 February 1991, consisting of a major ground offensive into Iraqi-occupied Kuwait following the successful Gulf War air campaign. Approximately 650,000 troops of the American-led 42-coun ...

, and runs from 1 to 28 February.

Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...

itself is celebrated on 26 February.

Science and technology

According to the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

, Kuwait registered 448

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

as of 31 December 2015, In the early to mid 2010s, Kuwait registered the largest number of scientific publications and patents per capita regionally. The Kuwaiti government has implemented various programs to foster innovation resulting in patent rights. The WIPO

Global Innovation Index The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for and success in innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and ''World Business'', a Britis ...

found that Kuwait ranks 71st over 139 (for its innovation efficiency ratio (which shows how much innovation output a country is getting for its inputs). Kuwait was the first country in the region to implement 5G technology. Kuwait is among the world's leading countries in 5G penetration. The Chinese company

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

has a $1.7 billion investment license in Kuwait to develop the country's ICT sector in line with the Kuwait Vision 2035 strategy.

Space

Kuwait has an emerging space industry driven by the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

. ;Kuwait's first satellite Kuwait's Orbital Space in collaboration with the Space Challenges Program and

EnduroSat EnduroSat AD is a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Sofia. It was founded in 2015 by Raycho Raychev. The company designs, builds, and operates CubeSats and Nanosatellites for commercial and scientific missions and is developing ...

introduced an international initiative called "Code in Space". The initiative allows students from around the world to send and execute their own code in space. The code is transmitted from a satellite ground station to a

cubesat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

(

nanosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites c ...

) orbiting Earth above sea level. The code is then executed by the satellite's onboard computer and tested under real space environment conditions. The nanosatellite is called "QMR-KWT" (Arabic: قمر الكويت) which means "Moon of Kuwait", translated from Arabic. QMR-KWT launched to space on 30 June 2021 on

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon 9 Block 5 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, human-rating certification, human-rated, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. I ...

rocket and was part of the payload of a satellite carrier called ION SCV Dauntless David by D-Orbit. It was deployed into its final orbit (

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

) on 16 July 2021. QMR-KWT is Kuwait's first satellite. ;Um Alaish 4 Seven years after the launch of the world's first communications satellite,

Telstar 1 Telstar 1 is a defunct communications satellite launched by NASA on July 10, 1962. One of the earliest communications satellites, it was the first satellite to achieve live transmission of broadcast television images between the United States ...

, Kuwait in October 1969 inaugurated the first satellite ground station in the Middle East, "Um Alaish". The Um Alaish satellite station complex housed several satellite ground stations including Um Alaish 1 (1969), Um Alaish 2 (1977), and Um Alaish 3 (1981). It provided satellite communication services in Kuwait until 1990 when it was destroyed by the Iraqi armed forces during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In 2019, Kuwait's Orbital Space established an amateur satellite ground station to provide free access to signals from satellites in orbit passing over Kuwait. The station was named Um Alaish 4 to continue the legacy of "Um Alaish" satellite station. Um Alaish 4 is member of FUNcube distributed

ground station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fr ...

network and the Satellite Networked Open Ground Station project (

SatNOGS SatNOGS (Satellite Networked Open Ground Station) project is a free software and open source hardware platform aimed to create a satellite ground station network. The scope of the project is to create a full stack of open technologies based on ope ...

). ;Kuwait Space Rocket The Kuwait Space Rocket (KSR) is a Kuwaiti project to build and launch the first

suborbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will no ...

liquid bi-propellant rocket in

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. The project is divided into two phases with two separate vehicles: an initial testing phase with KSR-1 as a test vehicle capable of reaching an altitude of and a more expansive suborbital test phase with the KSR-2 planned to fly to an altitude of . ;TSCK experiment in space Kuwait's Orbital Space in collaboration with the Kuwait Scientific Center (TSCK) introduced for the first time in Kuwait the opportunity for students to send a science experiment to space. The objectives of this initiative was to allow students to learn about (a) how science space missions are done; (b)

microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

(weightlessness) environment; (c) how to do science like a real scientist. This opportunity was made possible through Orbital Space agreement with

DreamUp DreamUp PBC is a Public-benefit corporation that offers space-based educational activities. DreamUp is a spin-off and sister company of Nanoracks LLC, a private spaceflight company. Nanoracks gives DreamUp access to research opportunities on th ...

PBC and

Nanoracks Nanoracks LLC is an American private in-space services company which builds space hardware and in-space repurposing tools. The company also facilitates experiments and launches of CubeSats to Low Earth Orbit. Nanoracks's main office is in H ...

LLC, which are collaborating with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

under a Space Act Agreement. The students' experiment was named "Kuwait’s Experiment: E.coli Consuming Carbon Dioxide to Combat Climate Change". The experiment was launched on

SpaceX CRS-21 SpaceX CRS-21, also known as SpX-21, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station which launched on 6 December 2020. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX using a Cargo Dragon 2. This was t ...

(SpX-21) spaceflight to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS) on 6 December 2020. Astronauts

Shannon Walker Shannon Walker (born June 4, 1965) is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut selected in 2004. She launched on her first mission into space on June 25, 2010, onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and spent over 163 days in space. She returned to space for ...

(member of the ISS

Expedition 64 Expedition 64 was the 64th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) that began on 21 October 2020 with the undocking and departure of Soyuz MS-16. The expedition started with the three crew members who launched onboard ...

) conducted the experiment on behalf of the students. ;National satellite project In July 2021, Kuwait University announced that it is launching a national satellite project as part of state-led efforts to pioneer the country's sustainable space sector.

Transport

Kuwait has a modern network of

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

s. Roadways extended , of which is paved. There are more than 2 million passenger cars, and 500,000 commercial taxis, buses, and trucks in use. On major highways the maximum speed is . Since there is no railway system in the country, most people travel by automobiles. The country's public transportation network consists almost entirely of bus routes. The state owned Kuwait Public Transportation Company was established in 1962. It runs local bus routes across Kuwait as well as longer distance services to other Gulf states. The main private bus company is CityBus, which operates about 20 routes across the country. Another private bus company, Kuwait Gulf Link Public Transport Services, was started in 2006. It runs local bus routes across Kuwait and longer distance services to neighbouring Arab countries. There are two airports in Kuwait.

Kuwait International Airport Kuwait International Airport (, ) is an international airport located in the Farwaniya Governorate, Kuwait, south of the centre of Kuwait City, spread over an area of . As of 2024 it is the 11th busiest airport in the Middle East. It serves a ...

serves as the principal hub for international air travel. State-owned

Kuwait Airways Kuwait Airways (, ) is the flag carrier of Kuwait, with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services throughout the Middle East, to the Indian subcontine ...

is the largest airline in the country. A portion of the airport complex is designated as Al Mubarak Air Base, which contains the headquarters of the

Kuwait Air Force The Kuwait Air Force () is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Kuwait. The Air Force headquarters is located at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, with the remaining forces stationed at Air Defense Brigades, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmad al-Jaber ...

, as well as the Kuwait Air Force Museum. In 2004, the first private airline of Kuwait,

Jazeera Airways Jazeera Airways K.S.C () is a Kuwaiti low-cost airline with its head office on the premises of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. It operates scheduled services in the Middle East, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, I ...

, was launched. In 2005, the second private airline,

Wataniya Airways Kuwait Wataniya Airways (K.S.C.) (), doing business as Wataniya Airways (), was a publicly-traded company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Wataniya Airways' hub was the Sheikh Saad Terminal in Kuwait while its corporate headquarters were on the prop ...

was founded. Kuwait has one of the largest shipping industries in the region. The Kuwait Ports Public Authority manages and operates ports across Kuwait. The country's principal commercial seaports are

Shuwaikh Shuwaikh () is a seaside district of Kuwait City in Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at t ...

and Shuaiba which handled combined cargo of 753,334 TEU in 2006. Mina Al-Ahmadi, the largest port in the country, handles most of Kuwait's oil exports.

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is a port in Bubiyan Island, Kuwait. The port is currently under construction. In April 2021, the port's first phase was completed (4 berths). The port is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Purpose Mubarak Al Kabee ...

Bubiyan Island Bubiyan Island () is the largest island in the Kuwaiti coastal island chain situated in the north-western corner of the Persian Gulf, with an area of . Bubiyan Island is part of the Shatt al-Arab delta. The Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is currently ...

is currently under construction. The port is expected to handle 2 million TEU when operations start.

Macro-economic

The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1995–2024. In 2019, Kuwait's main export products were mineral fuels including oil (89.1% of total exports), aircraft and spacecraft (4.3%), organic chemicals (3.2%), plastics (1.2%), iron and steel (0.2%), gems and precious metals (0.1%), machinery including computers (0.1%), aluminum (0.1%), copper (0.1%), and salt, sulphur, stone and cement (0.1%). Kuwait was the world's biggest exporter of sulfonated, nitrated and nitrosated hydrocarbons in 2019. Kuwait was ranked 63rd out of 157 countries in the 2019

Economic Complexity Index The economic complexity index (ECI) is a holistic measure of the productive capabilities of large economic systems, usually cities, regions, or countries. In particular, the ECI looks to explain the knowledge accumulated in a population and tha ...

(ECI).

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

was Kuwait's leading export market in 2019 and food/agricultural products accounted for 94.2% of total export commodities. According to data from the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the level of joblessness amongst the Kuwaiti population continues to rise annually as of 2024. This is predominately due to a surplus of graduates in fields that lack demand within the workforce, as well as a discrepancy between labor market requirements and the skills obtained through certain specializations. Additional issues contributing to the unemployment rate include a lack of emphasis on the private sector and insufficient coordination among related authorities. Until substantial changes are made regarding the quality of educational outputs, the number of graduates in less required fields is likely to keep rising, further exacerbating unemployment issues. Statistics from the Central Statistics Bureau as of November 19, 2023 indicate that there are 8,727 unemployed Kuwaitis, including 4,177 males (approximately 48 percent) and 4,550 females (approximately 52 percent). According to recent statistics released by the Central Statistics Bureau, the population of Kuwait rose to 4.91 million on January 1, 2024 — an increase of 119,700 from 2024's 4.79 million population. The number of Kuwaiti citizens increased by 28,700, totaling 1.545 million, an increase from the 1.517 million figure from the start of 2023. Notably, the number of male citizens reached 758,700 and female citizens rose to 787,000 in January 2024. Additionally, the expatriate population witnessed a rise by 90,990, reaching 3.36 million, among which the male expatriates accounted for 2.26 million and female expatriates stood at 1.1 million in the same period.

References

External links

Kuwait Investment Authority

{{Asia in topic, Economy of

Economy of the Arab League