Economy — Kuwait
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Economy at a glance
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency. Key figure for Kuwait: 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 r…
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Economic overview
- Economic Overview
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.
With world oil prices declining, Kuwait realized a budget deficit in 2015 for the first time more than a decade; 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
- Industries
petroleum, petrochemicals, desalination, food processing, construction materials
- GDP - per capita (PPP)
$72,200.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
1.2%
GDP & growth
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product (PPP)
$209,740,000,000 (USD)
- GDP Per Capita
$72,200.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
1.2%
- GDP - official exchange rate
$123,200,000,000 (USD)
- GDP - composition, by end use
- household consumption: 36.1%
- government consumption: 25.4%
- investment in fixed capital: 20.2%
- investment in inventories: 0%
- exports of goods and services: 55.5%
- imports of goods and services: -37.2%
- GDP by Sector- agriculture
0.4%
- GDP by Sector- Industry
59.4%
- GDP by Sector- services
40.2%
- Industrial Growth Rate
2.1%
Prices & money
- Inflation Rate
3.8%
- Exchange Rate per US Dollar
Kuwaiti dinar (KD)
- Currency Name and Code
Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD)
- Fiscal Year
1 April - 31 March
- Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
4.9%
Employment & labor
- Labor Force
2,154,000
- Unemployment Rate
2.2%
- Major Industries
petroleum, petrochemicals, desalination, food processing, construction materials
- Agriculture Products
practically no crops; fish
Public finance
- Annual Budget
$64,810,000,000 (USD)
- Public Debt (% of GDP)
17.6%
- Budget Surplus or Deficit - percent of GDP
29.2%
- Taxes and other revenues - percent of GDP
63.6%