Kuwait's workforce totals 2.212 million individuals, not including domestic workers, as revealed in Al-Shall's report.
Al-Shall's latest report on Kuwait's labor market at the end of Q1 2025 provides insights into wage disparities, employment distribution, and educational attainment among Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti workers in both public and private sectors.
Wage Disparities
The report reveals significant wage gaps based on nationality and gender. Kuwaiti male government workers earn an average monthly salary of 1,918 dinars, a slight decrease from 1,953 dinars the previous year. Kuwaiti female government employees earn an average of 1,390 dinars, up slightly from 1,375 dinars, resulting in a 38% wage gap favoring men in the public sector.
Employment Distribution
The total workforce in Kuwait (excluding domestic workers) reached approximately 2.212 million, a 3.0% increase from 2.147 million the previous year. Including domestic workers and family sector workers (around 745,000), the total labor force is roughly 2.957 million. Domestic workers make up about 25.2% of the total workforce, a slight decrease from 26.9% a year earlier.
Kuwaitization efforts appear ongoing, with NBK (National Bank of Kuwait) reporting a Kuwaitization rate of 78% in 2024, aligned with Central Bank requirements, reflecting initiatives to increase the national workforce share in the private banking sector.
Educational Attainment Among Kuwaiti Public Sector Workers
About 51.2% of Kuwaitis in the public sector hold university degrees, with 5.0% holding postgraduate qualifications. Another 13.2% have post-secondary but below university diplomas, and 19.2% have secondary school certificates or equivalents. In total, approximately 88.5% of Kuwaiti public-sector employees have at least secondary education, driven partly by wage structures tied directly to educational attainment rather than job relevance or necessity.
Additional Context
The report notes challenges such as wage inequality and the disconnect in linking wages strictly to educational credentials. It does not provide explicit private-sector Kuwaiti vs. non-Kuwaiti education or wage data but signals ongoing disparities by nationality overall. The labor market shows growth and increased employment, likely affected by broader economic and organizational trends including rising workloads and employment levels reported in other analyses.
In conclusion, Al-Shall’s latest report depicts a Kuwaiti labor market marked by clear wage gaps (gender and nationality-based), increasing workforce size, a high level of educational attainment among Kuwaitis in the public sector, and continuing efforts to increase national employment share within the private sector. The private sector’s detailed educational or wage distributions by nationality were not detailed in this report.
- The average monthly wage for Kuwaitis in the government sector was 1,602 dinars in Q1 2025, while non-Kuwaitis earned around 641 dinars-a difference of approximately 150% in favor of Kuwaiti workers.
- Approximately 51.2% of Kuwaitis in the public sector hold university degrees.
- The number of Kuwaitis in the government sector is approximately 377,200, a decline of 1.8% from the previous year.
- In the private sector, Kuwaiti men earned 1,662 dinars on average, 13.4% lower than their counterparts in the public sector.
- The number of Kuwaitis in the private sector is about 73,000, a slight decrease from the previous year.
- A gender gap of 45.5% exists in favor of non-Kuwaiti females, with non-Kuwaiti females earning an average monthly salary of 472 dinars across both sectors.
- Among non-Kuwaitis working in the government sector, the average wage for males was 599 dinars in Q1 2025, sharply down from 805 dinars the previous year. Non-Kuwaiti women in the same sector earned 694 dinars in Q1 2025, slightly lower than the previous year's 721 dinars, but now surpassing their male counterparts by around 15.8%.
- The overall average monthly salary for Kuwaitis across both sectors is 1,567 dinars, while the overall average monthly salary for non-Kuwaitis is 344 dinars.
- The distribution of Kuwaiti employment is 83.8% in government jobs and 16.2% in the private sector.
- The average monthly wage for Kuwaiti workers is notably higher than that of non-Kuwartis, with a difference of approximately 150% in the government sector and 45.5% in favor of non-Kuwaiti females across both sectors.
- Approximately 51.2% of Kuwaitis in the public sector hold university degrees, while the distribution of Kuwaiti employment is dominated by government jobs, accounting for 83.8% of the total.
