According to the World Bank, Kuwait is one of the richest countries in the world and that there is no extreme poverty in the country.
The World Bank report notes that the country enjoys strong foreign financial assets and had a GDP of KD120.1 billion in 2017. On the other hand, the report also pointed out that the “decline in oil prices in past years led to a significant decline in liquidity reserves,” while at the same time there have been “more withdrawals from the General Reserve Fund, which may erode the reserves.” The World Bank report also pointed out that expatriates represent two-thirds of the population in the country, and that the bulk of them form the low-income segment.
Considering that a large section of the population have low incomes, and that 18 percent of the total population live below the income level of half the average, there are serious concerns regarding regular complaints of “nonpayment or delay in wages, difficult working conditions and fears of harassment,” of this section.
Meanwhile, data from the Central Bank of Kuwait shows that remittances from the country rose by 3.9 percent year-on-year in the last year. Workers remitted KD4.3 billion in 2018 compared to KD4.1 billion in 2017. The highest value of remittances was in the second-quarter totalling KD1.19 billion, while the lowest transfer was in the first quarter with KD1.03 billion.
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