Asia
To which language should you translate to localize in Kuwait?
What the 150 top websites do
Of the top 150 website (Global by design ranking):
- 75/150 translate into English.
- 28/150 translate into Arabic.
If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data
Overview
Language
Official language
Arabic
T-index
0.1%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
Most studied languages
English and French.
English
Low proficiency (EF) – 85 of 113 countries/regions in the world- 7/13 position in Middle East.
Demography
Capital: Kuwait City
Currency: Kuwaiti dinar
Population: 4.26 m
Population density: 239/km2
Economy
GDP: 184.56 billion USD (2022)
GDP per capita: 43,233.5 USD (2022)
Exports: $58.2 billion (2021)
Statistics
Internet users: 99% penetration, 4.25 million
Unemployment rate: 2.2%
Urbanisation: 100% (2022)
Literacy: 96% (2020)
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numerals are not used
Date format: dd – mm – yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00965
Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal
Facts and data
Economy
Imports
$33.8 billion (2021). Cars ($2.84B), Petroleum Gas ($2.13B), Gold ($1.06B), Jewellery ($1.04B), and Packaged Medicaments ($833M), importing mostly from China ($5B), United Arab Emirates ($4.69B), United States ($2.85B), Saudi Arabia ($2.04B), and Japan ($1.61B).
In 2021, Kuwait was the world’s biggest importer of Cast Iron Pipes ($117M).
Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)
• 79.8% have an account with a financial institution
• 22.3% have a credit card
Ease of doing business
Ease of conducting business is medium (rated 67.4 out of 100). Ranked 9th out of 20 Middle East and North African countries. Ranked 83rd out of 190 countries worldwide (2022, World Bank).
Exports
$58.2 billion (2021). Crude Petroleum ($40.1B), Refined Petroleum ($7.57B), Petroleum Gas ($2.62B), Cyclic Hydrocarbons ($1.28B), and Sulfonated, Nitrated or Nitrosated Hydrocarbons ($1.02B), exporting mostly to China ($16B), India ($8.72B), South Korea ($7.23B), Japan ($5.79B), and Vietnam ($4.1B).
In 2021, Kuwait was the world’s biggest exporter of Sulfonated, Nitrated or Nitrosated Hydrocarbons ($1.02B).
Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 56.7 out of 100). Ranked 9th out of 14 Middle East and North African countries. Ranked 108th out of 176 countries worldwide (2023, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).
Global Innovation Index
Ranked 7th out of 19 Northern African and Western Asian countries, and 62nd out of 132 worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal
Service Imports
Service Exports
Source: OEC
Historical Data Trade Imports
The following section uses historical trade data imports from partners of Kuwait.
Historical Data Trade Exports
The following section uses historical trade data exports from partners of Kuwait.
Source: OEC
Trade balance of goods from 2012 to 2022
Source: Statista
The Top Export Opportunities for Kuwait by Relatedness
Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product by showing only products that Kuwait is not specialized in.
Kuwait's Most Complex Exports
The Product Complexity Index (PCI) measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.
Source: OEC
Kuwait's Most Specialized Products
Specialization is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), an index that takes the ratio between Kuwait observed and expected exports in each product.
Source: OEC
Market Growth Imports (2020)
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start importing that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Market Growth Exports (2020)
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start exporting that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Source: OEC
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language English, Arabic
Information channels
According to Freedom House, the authorities limit media freedom and the law criminalises criticism of the emir and the government, or content that is deemed to insult Islam. State TV and radio operate alongside private broadcasters. Pan-Arab satellite stations are widely watched. The press is relatively open, but newspapers must be licensed by the information ministry. BBC World Service broadcasts on FM in Kuwait City (in Arabic on 90.1, English on 100.1). Internet use is very high. Around 4.1 million Kuwaitis were online by the end of 2017, comprising nearly 98% of the population (InternetWorldStats.com). Reporters Without Borders says a vaguely-worded cyber-crime law that took effect in 2016 poses a threat to internet users who post critical content. Certain websites that are deemed to be immoral or politically sensitive are blocked, says Freedom House.
The press
Al-Qabas – private, daily
Al-Rai al-Amm – private, daily
Kuwait Times – English-language
Arab Times – English-language
Al-Anba – private, daily
Al-Jarida – private, daily
Al-Nahar – private, daily
Television
Kuwaiti TV – state-run, operates four networks and satellite channel
Al-Rai – first private TV, via satelliteAl-Sabah – private
Radio
Radio Kuwait – state-run, programmes in English and Arabic
Marina FM – first private radio station, music-based
News agency
Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) – in Arabic and English
Media data source: BBC
Internet Data
Internet users
99% penetration, 4.25 million
Share of web traffic by device
68.17% mobile phones, 29.82% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.93% tablet devices and 0.07% other devices.
Median speed of mobile Internet connection
97.66 Mbps
Median speed of fixed Internet connection
117.26 Mbps
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 178%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 98.4%
Most popular web search engines
Google (96.1%), Bing (1.97%), Petal Search (0.88%), Yandex (0.51%), Yahoo! (0.3%), other (0.24%).
Most used social media
Facebook (59.41%), Instagram (17.07%), Twitter (11.13%), YouTube (4.13%), LinkedIn (3.98%), Pinterest (3.85%), reddit (0.2%), other (0.22%).
Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter
Social statistics
Life expectancy
79 yrs (2021)
Corruption perceptions Index
Kuwait scored 42 out of 100, ranked 77 out of 180 countries worldwide.
Current health expenditure
6.31% of GDP
CO2 emissions
21.2 metric tons per capita
World Happiness Index
Kuwait ranked 50 out of 137 countries, with a score of 6.106.
Current education expenditure
92.3% of total expenditure in public institutions
Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF
The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com
Languages research
Languages spoken in Kuwait
Legend
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Arabic
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
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