KUWAIT CITY, Feb 2: Kuwait’s labor market continued its upward trajectory by the end of 2025, expanding by 8.9 percent over the year with the addition of 262,960 workers, bringing the total workforce to 3.212 million compared to 2.94 million at the end of 2024, according to official data.

Figures from the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) showed that the workforce excluding domestic workers reached 2.353 million, marking an annual increase of 139,500 workers, or 6.3 percent. Of this total, male workers accounted for 69.7 percent, while female workers numbered 972,010. The domestic labor sector stood at 761,152 workers, representing 25.2 percent of the total workforce.

Kuwaiti nationals ranked third in the labor market, accounting for about 21 percent, with their numbers rising from 449,588 to 493,400 across 17 economic sectors, compared to nearly 2.7 million expatriate workers. Around 80 percent of Kuwaiti workers were employed in the government sector, totaling 395,300, while 67,200 were employed in the private sector. Data also indicated that nearly one million citizens remain outside the labor force, including 515,200 under the age of 15 and about 490,000 elderly individuals.

The government sector accounted for 16.3 percent of total employment, with 525,500 workers, including 395,110 Kuwaitis and 130,400 expatriates. The private sector dominated employment with 1.825 million workers, representing 56.8 percent of the total workforce, of whom only 3.63 percent were Kuwaiti nationals, while expatriates made up 96.36 percent.

Sectoral distribution showed that most Kuwaiti nationals were concentrated in public administration, defense and compulsory social security, employing about 385,100 citizens, or 78 percent of the total Kuwaiti workforce. Real estate and rental activities ranked second with 33,500 Kuwaitis, followed by wholesale trade with 11,500, and financial intermediation with 10,700. Smaller numbers of Kuwaiti workers were recorded in manufacturing and construction, with 4,508 and 4,547 workers respectively.

In social sectors, the data showed 1,311 Kuwaitis employed in health services, 1,357 in education, 524 in transport, storage and communications, and 1,723 in hotels and restaurants.

On educational attainment, PACI data indicated that 55.57 percent of the total workforce, or about 1.785 million workers, were literate. Those holding intermediate certificates accounted for 16.3 percent, diplomas 8.75 percent, and university degrees 9 percent. Among Kuwaiti workers, 35.7 percent held a university degree or higher, totaling 165,144 graduates, including 6,357 master’s degree holders and 5,026 doctorate holders. By comparison, 123,180 expatriate workers held university degrees, including 4,569 with master’s degrees and 1,714 with doctorates.