KUWAIT: Kuwait's population saw an estimated drop of 56,300 non-Kuwaiti residents in the first half of 2021, according to a report released yesterday. Kuwait's total population has reached approximately 4.628 million by the end of June 2021, according to the latest demographics and labor force statistics issued by the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI). This means that the population decreased semi-annually by 0.9 percent (1.8 percent on annual basis), Al-Shall report reads.

The total population decreased by 2.2 percent in 2020 versus growth rates of 3.3 percent, 2.7 percent, and 2.0 percent in the years 2019, 2018 and 2017 respectively. The absolute semi-annual increase in population reached about 43,000 compared to an annual decline of 105,700 for the year 2020, the report adds.

According to the report, Kuwaitis increased by 13,300 during the first half of 2021, 0.9 percent growth rate (1.8 percent on annual basis) bringing the total to 1.473 million. As such, Kuwaitis' percentage out of the total population slightly increased from 31.3 percent at the end of 2020 to 31.8 percent according to the latest figures. Kuwaiti females, (751,600), outnumber males (721,700). The number of non-Kuwaitis declined slightly by 56,300, a 1.8 percent declined rate, bringing their total to 3.154 million with an annual compound growth rate of 2.5 percent over the years 2010 - June 2021.

Labor force

Labor force in Kuwait reached approximately 2.80 million workers, or about 60.5 percent of the total population. This percentage reached 30.9 percent for Kuwaitis of the total Kuwaiti population, while non-Kuwaiti workers' percentage out of non-Kuwaiti population is 74.2 percent. The Kuwaiti labor force percentage out of total number of workers in Kuwait increased to 16.3 percent by June 2021 versus 15.8 percent in December 2020.

Proportion of female workers out of total Kuwaiti workforce rose to approximately 49.8 percent in the first six months of the current year (49.5 percent in the end of last year), forming 27.7 percent out of the total labor force in Kuwait. The number of Kuwaiti workers increased by 5,900 to reach 455,700 in the first half of 2021, up from 449,800 workers at the end of 2020, of which 360,600 of them are employed in the government (79.1 percent of total Kuwaiti workers).

About 944 jobs decreased for Kuwaitis outside the public sector, a decline rate by 1.5 percent (3.0 percent on annual basis). It is believed that Kuwaiti's unveiled unemployment rate increased to about 32,900 workers, 7.21 percent of total Kuwaiti workers on June 30, 2021, versus 26,000 workers (7.16 percent in the end of 2020). Total workers (Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti) in the government sector reached about 476,600 workers, about 10.3 percent of the total population. Kuwaitis' percentage - out of total labor force in government sector - formed 76.0 percent.