Asians top in number of foreign workers

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 27

The quarterly statistics issued by Kuwait Central Statistical Bureau showed that the total workforce, except the domestic laborers, reached 1,938,243 in June 2016 which increased by 736,132 compared to June 2015.

The report said the Kuwaiti workforce increased from 342,417 to 348,792 — 1.9 percent growth within a year. It added the number of Kuwaitis in the total workforce declined from 19 percent in June 2015 to 18 percent in June 2016.

On the other hand, the non-Kuwaiti workforce increased from 1,463,090 to 1,589,451 — 8.6 percent growth in one year; while non Kuwaiti women constitute 10.2 percent of the expatriate workforce. Asians came first in the number of foreign workers — 49.7 percent of the total, followed by Arabs with 30.6 percent.

As for the top 10 nationalities working in Kuwait, Indians topped the list with 14.1 percent increase — from 455,228 in June 2015 to 519,466 in June 2016. Egyptians came in second place with 8.1 percent increase and their total number reached 453,071 in June 2016.

On the number of highly qualified employees among Kuwaitis, the percentage increased from 33.8 percent in 2015 to 35.1 percent in 2016. For the expatriate workforce, the percentage of high school graduates increased from 17.5 percent to 20.5 percent while those holding a primary school certificate declined from 17.1 percent to 13 percent.

The statistics also showed that 59.7 percent of the workers are in the private sector and citizens constitute 4.5 percent of the total workforce in this sector compared to 79.7 of Kuwaiti employees working in the public sector. Also, the number of Kuwaiti employees in the public sector increased by 4.1 percent — from 267,109 in 2015 to 277,935 in 2016.

© Arab Times 2016