Kuwait population at 3.4m

Kuwait's population was 3.4 million by the end of June, the same figure recorded late last year, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said in its recent economic report.

Kuwaitis totalled 1.1 million, making up 32 percent of the population, and foreign residents were 2.3 million, it said, quoting figures of the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI).

The number of Kuwaiti nationals rose by roughly 15,000, and that of non-Kuwaitis fell by around 14,000, keeping the country's total population unchanged.

The number of workers in Kuwait totaled 1.7 million by late June, down 13,000, or 2.6 percent, in the first half of 2009, it added. The drop mainly involved foreign residents. At the same time, the number of Kuwaiti workers edged up by 10,000, or three percent.

The fall in the number of workers was mainly in the private sector, while it rose in the public sector. Unemployed Kuwaitis nosedived to 14,265 in late June, taking the jobless rate down to 4.9 percent, the report added.

Source: Kuwait Times