Kuwait population 69% expat

Expatriates now make up 69% of Kuwait’s total population, which rose by 6.8% to 3.4 million in 2007, it was reported on Sunday.

The number of foreigners increased by 8.5% to 2.3 million, while the native population rose 3.1% to 1.05 million, said Al-Shall Economic Consultants, quoting figures from the Public Authority of Civil Information.

Expats account for 84.5% of the total labour force in the country, the report said, with the number of Kuwaitis in the workforce dropping by around 5%.

Foreign workers account for 37% of the 35 million of people living in the six countries of the GCC.

According to statistics compiled by Human Rights Watch, expatriates account for around 80% of the population of Qatar and the UAE, and about 40% in Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia - which accounts for around 75% of the total GCC population - and Oman have the lowest number of foreign workers relative to the size of their populations, standing at around 33% and 25% respectively.