KUWAIT CITY, Dec 21: The spending by Kuwaitis on travel in the third quarter of this year increased by about 13.92 percent compared to the second quarter of the same year, reaching 1.157 billion dinars compared to 1.016 billion in the previous three months from April to June. According to balance of payments data issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait, spending on travel in the third quarter of 2023 recorded an increase of about 1.57 percent over its level in the same quarter of last year, which amounted to about 1.139 billion dinars, while Kuwaitis spent about 3.534 billion dinars on travel during the nine months. The first months of this year, an increase of 13.65 percent compared to their spending during the corresponding period in 2022, amounting to about 3.112 billion.

Central Bank data showed that remittances from expatriates abroad during the third quarter of this year amounted to 867.7 million dinars, down by about 2.74 percent from their value in the second quarter, which amounted to 892.1 million, while they recorded a decline of about 31.46 percent compared to their value in the third quarter of the last year, amounting to 1.266 billion.

Remittances
As for the nine-month period, expatriate remittances during the period from January to September of this year recorded about 2.98 billion dinars, down by about 29.67 percent from their level in the first nine months of last year, which amounted to about 4.24 billion dinars. The data revealed that the current account, which shows the summary of receipts and payments between the local economy and other economies with regard to transactions of goods, services and income, recorded a surplus during the third quarter of the current year amounting to about 4.72 billion dinars, bringing the total surplus achieved during the first nine months of the year. This year, about 12.22 billion dinars.

According to the data, the current account surplus decreased in the third quarter of 2023 by about 11.2 percent from its level in the same quarter of last year, amounting to 5.32 billion dinars, and it also declined during the first nine months of the current year by about 16.6 percent from its level in the corresponding period of 2022, amounting to about 14.66 billion dinars. The value of Kuwait’s merchandise exports during the third quarter of 2023 amounted to about 6.77 billion dinars, down by about 16.9 percent from their value in the second quarter of this year, which amounted to 8.15 billion dinars, while the value of merchandise exports during the period from January to September of the current year amounted to 19.52 billion. dinars, down 18.6 percent from its level in the same period last year, amounting to 23.98 billion.

The value of Kuwait’s oil exports during the months of July, August and September of this year reached approximately 6.28 billion dinars, declining by about 17 percent from their value in the same period in 2022, which amounted to about 7.57 billion, while the value of oil exports recorded a decline of about 19.6 percent during the nine months. The first of 2023 to reach 18.06 billion dinars, compared to about 22.46 billion in the same period of 2022. The value of Kuwait’s merchandise imports witnessed an increase in the third quarter of 2023 by about 15.8 percent to reach about 2.41 billion dinars, compared to 2.08 billion in the same quarter of last year, while the value of merchandise imports recorded an increase of about 15.5 percent during the first nine months of this year to reach About 7.54 billion dinars, compared to 6.53 billion in the same period last year.