A recent report reveals that university graduates now make up the largest segment of the Kuwaiti workforce, representing 48% of the total workforce as of September 30, 2024. This marks a slight increase from 46.1% in 2023, reflecting a positive trend in higher education among Kuwaiti workers.
According to the quarterly labor statistics report released by the Central Statistical Administration, the proportion of Kuwaiti workers with university degrees or higher saw a modest increase from 51% in 2023 to 53.1% in 2024. Meanwhile, the share of those holding intermediate certificates decreased slightly from 9.6% to 8.6%.
As of 2024, the number of Kuwaiti workers with secondary school certificates or equivalent stood at 19.9% (89,924 workers), and 5.1% held postgraduate degrees. Additionally, 12.7% had post-secondary but non-university certificates. A small portion of the workforce, 1.8%, held only primary education.
In contrast, the number of illiterate Kuwaiti workers was extremely low, with only two recorded, while 184 were able to read and write. The workforce with primary education accounted for 1.8%, totaling 8,199 employees.
In the private sector, the distribution of Kuwaiti workers across different industries shows concentration in financial and insurance services (17.8%), accommodation and food services (14.1%), and wholesale and retail trade (12.2%). However, Kuwaiti participation remains low in sectors like agriculture, forestry, and fishing, as well as water supply, sanitation, and waste management.
Regarding non-Kuwaiti workers, employment remained stable across most educational categories. However, there was a slight decrease in the number of non-Kuwaiti workers with intermediate qualifications, from 49.3% in 2023 to 49.1% in 2024. The number of workers with primary education also dropped from 7.7% to 7.3%.
Among the expatriate workforce, university graduates accounted for 258,724 workers, while 407,800 held secondary school certificates or equivalents. A total of 18,286 non-Kuwaiti workers held postgraduate degrees.
In terms of industry concentration, 51.5% of non-Kuwaiti workers were employed in three main sectors: accommodation and food services (19.3%), wholesale and retail trade (17.6%), and construction (14.6%). In contrast, sectors such as information and communications, arts and entertainment, and real estate had lower participation from non-Kuwaiti workers.
