Kuwait

AsiaCapital city: Kuwait CityCapital metro: Kuwait CityMonarch: πŸ‘‘ Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-SabahPrime Minister: Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah
2026 population
4.9M
Rank #130 globally
Area
18k kmΒ² (7k sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
95% of population in metros
Composite score
19.5
Rank #69 globally

population: Official estimate (1 Jan 2025) Β· indicators as of 2026-09-05 Β· 1 metros tracked

πŸ—ΊοΈ Geography1 metro

Kuwait metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

πŸ™οΈ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
πŸ—‚οΈ Governorates

6 entries listed under Kuwait. Click any to see its metros and footprint.

6 total
πŸ“‹ At a glance
Official language
Arabic
Government
Constitutional monarchy
Legislature
National Assembly of Kuwait
Demonym
Kuwaiti
Time zone
UTC+03:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+965
Internet TLD
.kw
ISO 3166
KW
Established
1991
Highest point
Mutla Ridge (140 m (459 ft))
National anthem
National Anthem of Kuwait

Facts via Wikidata.

πŸ’Ή Economy and developmentHigh income
Human Dev. Index
#51 / 191
0.852
UNDP Β· 2023
GDP
#58 / 193
$157.2B
World Bank Β· 2025
GDP per capita
#40 / 193
$32.3k
World Bank Β· 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#37 / 190
$56.5k
World Bank Β· 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#28 / 192
$41.1k
World Bank Β· 2024
Life expectancy
β˜… #3 / 194
84.6 yrs
World Bank Β· 2024
Median age
34.5 yrs
UN WPP Β· 2023
Urban population
β˜… #2 / 194
100%
World Bank Β· 2025
Pop. growth
-0.7%
World Bank Β· 2025
Pop. density
#31 / 193
272/kmΒ²
World Bank Β· 2023
Foreign-born
β˜… #5 / 193
67.3%
World Bank Β· 2024
Rule of law
#72 / 175
0.69
V-Dem Β· 2025
Internet users
β˜… #3 / 193
100%
World Bank Β· 2025
Inflation
#71 / 185
2.4%
World Bank Β· 2025
COβ‚‚ per capita
#191 / 192
26.2 t
Global Carbon Budget Β· 2024
Renewable electricity
#169 / 186
2%
Ember Β· 2025

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; β˜… marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations5 full memberships

Political & Economic

Energy

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

πŸ›οΈ Leadership History30 leaders Β· click to expand

marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.

Al Sabah Emirate

Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah✦ Current

2024–Present

Prime Minister

Tenure: in office

Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah

2026–2024

Prime Minister

Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

2024–2026

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 2m 10d

Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah

2024–2024

Prime Minister

πŸ‘‘ Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah✦ Current

2023–Present

Monarch

Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

2022–2024

Prime Minister

πŸ‘‘ Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

2020–2023

Monarch

Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah

2019–2022

Prime Minister

Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah

2011–2019

Prime Minister

Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

2006–2011

Prime Minister

πŸ‘‘ Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

2006–2020

Monarch

πŸ‘‘ Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah

2006–2006

Monarch

Tenure: 9 days
Show all 20 leaders

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

2003–2006

Prime Minister

Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah

1978–2003

Prime Minister

πŸ‘‘ Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

1977–2006

Monarch

Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

1965–1978

Prime Minister

πŸ‘‘ Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah

1965–1977

Monarch

Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah

1963–1965

Prime Minister

Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah

1962–1963

Prime Minister

πŸ‘‘ Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah

1950–1965

Monarch

Al Sabah dynasty

πŸ‘‘ Ahmad al-Jaber

1921–1950

Monarch

Tenure: 28y 10m 27d

πŸ‘‘ Salim

1917–1921

Monarch

Tenure: 4y 1m 24d

πŸ‘‘ Jaber II

1915–1917

Monarch

Tenure: 1y 2m 8d

πŸ‘‘ Mubarak the Great

1896–1915

Monarch

Tenure: 19y 6m 10d

πŸ‘‘ Muhammad I

1892–1896

Monarch

Tenure: 4y 4m 17dyear-level dates

πŸ‘‘ Abdullah II

1866–1892

Monarch

Tenure: 26y 0dyear-level dates

πŸ‘‘ Sabah II

1859–1866

Monarch

Tenure: 7y 0dyear-level dates

πŸ‘‘ Jaber I

1814–1859

Monarch

Tenure: 45y 0dyear-level dates

πŸ‘‘ Abdullah I

1776–1814

Monarch

Tenure: 38y 0dyear-level dates

πŸ‘‘ Sabah I

1752–1776

Monarch

Tenure: 24y 0dyear-level dates
πŸ“ˆ Power over timeThe Power Atlas β†’
Today
Minor#65 Β· 0.2%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)
Kuwait Β· share of world power, 1961–2026

The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

βš”οΈ Conflicts since 19452 interstate wars Β· click to expand
Persian Gulf War1990–1991
Combat deaths: β€”
Combat deaths: 12,336–19,264

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, β€œList of interstate wars since 1945.”

πŸ‘₯ Population over time
Population 2023
4.8m
#128 in the world
Since 1800
60Γ—
from 81k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.06%
0.01% in 1800
1.3m2.6m3.8m5.1m18001850190019502000
Kuwait Β· people, 1800–2023 Β· dashed to 2026 is projected

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

πŸ‘₯ To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Kuwait: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
after 2100
still growing at 2100
2050
6.4m
95% band 2.7m to 11.6m
2100
9.6m
2100 against 2025
1.91Γ—
median still rising in 2100
6.3m12.6m18.8m25.1m1950197520002025205020752100

Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.

estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
7k born Β· 2k died Β· 0 net migration
TFR 7.12 Β· life expectancy 49.7 Β· median age 20.3
1960
14k born Β· 3k died Β· +22k net migration
TFR 7.22 Β· life expectancy 58.9 Β· median age 21.0
1970
35k born Β· 4k died Β· +27k net migration
TFR 7.03 Β· life expectancy 68.0 Β· median age 17.5
1980
52k born Β· 5k died Β· +32k net migration
TFR 5.18 Β· life expectancy 71.1 Β· median age 19.5
1990
54k born Β· 7k died Β· -1.2m net migration
TFR 3.49 Β· life expectancy 72.9 Β· median age 22.3
2000
44k born Β· 4k died Β· +14k net migration
TFR 2.89 Β· life expectancy 75.9 Β· median age 24.9
2010
56k born Β· 6k died Β· +102k net migration
TFR 2.04 Β· life expectancy 77.5 Β· median age 28.6
2020
52k born Β· 12k died Β· -168k net migration
TFR 2.10 Β· life expectancy 78.2 Β· median age 36.8
Show all 16 decades
2030
53k born Β· 9k died Β· +3k net migration
TFR 1.48 Β· life expectancy 81.7 Β· median age 34.9
2040
61k born Β· 11k died Β· +4k net migration
TFR 1.49 Β· life expectancy 83.4 Β· median age 35.0
2050
64k born Β· 14k died Β· +4k net migration
TFR 1.50 Β· life expectancy 84.9 Β· median age 35.6
2060
70k born Β· 18k died Β· +4k net migration
TFR 1.52 Β· life expectancy 86.2 Β· median age 35.7
2070
79k born Β· 20k died Β· +3k net migration
TFR 1.53 Β· life expectancy 87.4 Β· median age 35.8
2080
87k born Β· 22k died Β· +3k net migration
TFR 1.55 Β· life expectancy 88.5 Β· median age 35.9
2090
95k born Β· 25k died Β· +3k net migration
TFR 1.57 Β· life expectancy 89.6 Β· median age 35.9
2100
105k born Β· 31k died Β· +2k net migration
TFR 1.57 Β· life expectancy 90.6 Β· median age 35.9

Every country to 2100 β†’

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

πŸ† National Teams

Kuwait on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.

National Teams Champions

Every major championship won by Kuwait's national teams, newest first. 1 in total.

1980Β· 1980-09-30