The Rich History of Kuwait

The demographic figures provide some interesting statistics. According to the latest census carried out in 1997, the total population of Kuwait was 2.21 million. There were 760,000 (34%) Kuwaitis and 1,450,000 (66%) non-Kuwaitis. Of the non-Kuwaiti population, 460,000 or 32 % were from other Arab States, 970,000 or 67% from the Asian countries with the balance mainly from Western Europe and America. There were about 197,000 Kuwaitis in the labor force of which 185,000 (94%) were employed in the public sector, whereas, the majority (84%) of the non-Kuwaiti working population of just over 1 million work in the private sector. The majority of non-Kuwaitis are single



		KFAS Visitors

expatriates who are employed in households, social services, construction, wholesale and retail trades and restaurants.

The purchasing power of the population mainly lies with the Kuwaiti population. Most expatriates remit the bulk of their earnings home to support their families and only purchase electrical goods at either the time of their leave or at the end of their contract. The distribution of the Kuwaiti population according to age groups indicates the dominance of young people. There were 332,000 (44%) in the under 15 age group and 542,000 (72%) in the under 30 age group. Also, it is interesting to note that of the 99,000 Kuwaitis in the 35 to 49 age group, 45% are males and 55% females.


	It is most likely that the Kuwaiti population will continue to grow at a rate of about 5% per annum, confirming the propensity to spend on services and consumer goods targeted at young people. The non-Kuwaiti population will start gradually to decline due to the impact of replacing expatriates in the labor force with the young Kuwaiti graduates and school leavers..






			Petrochemical Plant Shuaiba


		Kuwait is a major world oil producer. Commercial production of crude oil commenced in 1946 and peaked at 3.3 million barrels per day in 1972. Currently, Kuwait is pumping just over 2 million barrels per day although it has the capacity to pump up to 2.5 million barrels per day. Plans have been established to move this capacity up to over 3 million barrels per day by the year 2005. Crude oil exports account for about 60% of the output with the remaining 40% used in downstream refining projects.

	The oil industry which had been managed since 1934 by Kuwait Oil Company, a joint venture between the U.S. Gulf Oil Company and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (British Petroleum), came under direct Government control in 1980. In that year, management of the oil sector was vested in the government-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) which has become one of the largest oil conglomerates in the world. KPC manages the sector through various subsidiary companies that are responsible for the day-to-day running of the various activities.