KuwaitChapters
Kuwait has been ruled by the AL-SABAH dynasty since the 18th century. The threat of Ottoman invasion in 1899 prompted Amir Mubarak AL-SABAH to seek protection from Britain, ceding foreign and defense responsibility to Britain until 1961, when the country attained its independence. Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq on 2 August 1990. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led UN coalition began a ground assault on 23 February 1991 that liberated Kuwait in four days. Kuwait spent more than $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-91. The AL-SABAH family returned to power in 1991 and reconstituted the parliament, which dates back to 1962. The country witnessed the historic election in 2009 of four women to its National Assembly. Amid the 2010-11 uprisings and protests across the Arab world, stateless Arabs, known as Bidoon, staged small protests in early 2011 demanding citizenship, jobs, and other benefits available to Kuwaiti nationals. Other demographic groups, notably tribal Bedouins, soon joined the growing protest movements, which culminated in late 2011 with the resignation of the prime minister amidst allegations of corruption. Demonstrations renewed in late 2012 in response to an amiri decree amending the electoral law that disadvantaged tribal Bedouins.
The opposition, led by a coalition of Sunni Islamists, tribal populists, and some liberals, largely boycotted legislative elections in 2012 and 2013, which ushered in a legislature more amenable to the government's agenda. Faced with the prospect of painful subsidy cuts, oppositionists and independents actively participated in the November 2016 election, winning nearly half of the seats. Since coming to power in 2006, the Amir has dissolved the National Assembly on seven occasions (the Constitutional Court annulled the Assembly in June 2012 and again in June 2013) and shuffled the cabinet over a dozen times, usually citing political stagnation and gridlock between the legislature and the government.
Source: The CIA World Factbook - Kuwait
Key indicators
- Area
- 17,818 km2
- Population
- 3,032,065 (July 2021 est.)
- Government type
- constitutional monarchy (emirate)
- Languages
- Arabic (official), English widely spoken
- GDP
- $136.197 billion (2019 est.)
- Growth rate
- 0.4% (2019 est.)
- HDI
- 64
- Capital
- Kuwait
Macroeconomic indicators
Kuwait has a geographically small, but wealthy, relatively open economy with crude oil reserves of about 102 billion barrels - more than 6% of world reserves. Kuwaiti officials plan to increase production to 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020. Petroleum accounts for over half of GDP, 92% of export revenues, and 90% of government income.
In 2015, Kuwait, for the first time in 15 years, realized a budget deficit after decades of high oil prices; in 2016, the deficit grew to 16.5% of GDP. Kuwaiti authorities announced cuts to fuel subsidies in August 2016, provoking outrage among the public and National Assembly, and the Amir dissolved the government for the seventh time in ten years. In 2017 the deficit was reduced to 7.2% of GDP, and the government raised $8 billion by issuing international bonds. Despite Kuwait’s dependence on oil, the government has cushioned itself against the impact of lower oil prices, by saving annually at least 10% of government revenue in the Fund for Future Generations.
Kuwait has failed to diversify its economy or bolster the private sector, because of a poor business climate, a large public sector that employs about 74% of citizens, and an acrimonious relationship between the National Assembly and the executive branch that has stymied most economic reforms. The Kuwaiti Government has made little progress on its long-term economic development plan first passed in 2010. While the government planned to spend up to $104 billion over four years to diversify the economy, attract more investment, and boost private sector participation in the economy, many of the projects did not materialize because of an uncertain political situation or delays in awarding contracts. To increase non-oil revenues, the Kuwaiti Government in August 2017 approved draft bills supporting a Gulf Cooperation Council-wide value added tax scheduled to take effect in 2018.
Source: The CIA World Factbook
IMF Statistics:
| Subject descriptor | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gross domestic product, constant prices Percent change (Units) |
1.698 |
6.138 |
-2.231 |
-1.437 |
3.803 |
|
Gross domestic product, current prices Percent change (Billions) |
141.773 |
182.846 |
161.784 |
160.397 |
163.377 |
|
Gross domestic product per capita, current prices Percent change (Units) |
29,756.639 |
37,624.950 |
32,638.041 |
31,723.933 |
31,679.561 |
|
Inflation, average consumer prices Percent change (Units) |
3.424 |
3.981 |
3.642 |
3.168 |
2.728 |
|
Volume of imports of goods and services Percent change (Units) |
|||||
|
Volume of exports of goods and services Percent change (Units) |
|||||
|
Unemployment rate Percent change (Units) |
|||||
|
Current account balance Percent change (Billions) |
37.387 |
63.131 |
53.039 |
48.304 |
44.330 |
|
Current account balance Percent change (Units) |
26.371 |
34.527 |
32.784 |
30.115 |
27.134 |
Estimates
Source: IMF Statistics - Kuwait
Relationships with Luxembourg
Existing conventions and agreements
Non double taxation agreement
In order to promote international economic and financial relations in the interest of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg government negotiates bilateral agreements for the avoidance of double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on fortune with third countries.
None
Air Services agreement
None
Further information
Foreign Trade
The Statec Foreign Trade statistics provide information on the trade of goods - by product and by country. This information is collected respectively through the INTRASTAT declaration and on the basis of customs documents.
You can see the statistics on the website of the Statec.
Contact Point in Kuwait
Luxembourg is represented by Ambassade Royale des Pays-Bas à Koweït City
Competent post for consular affairs Ambassade du Royaume de Belgique à Koweït City
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg
Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office in Abu Dhabi
Mr Loic Bertoli
Appt. 6201, 62nd Floor
Nation Tower Residences, Corniche Road
P.O. Box 44909
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Tel.: (+971) 24 91 24 46
E-Mail: ltio.abudhabi@mae.etat.lu
Source: Luxembourg Trade&Investment Office (LTIO)
Country risk as defined by Office du Ducroire for Kuwait
Ducroire is the only credit insurer covering open account deals in over 200 countries. A rating on a scale from 1 to 7 shows the intensity of the political risk. Category 1 comprises countries with the lowest political risk and category 7 countries with the highest. Macroeconomics experts also assess the repayment climate for all buyers in a country.
Link: Ducroire Office - Country Risk for Kuwait