Kuwait's trade (% of GDP) was 93.99% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 6.05 percentage points from 100.04% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 93.99% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 91.69% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 100.04% | 2014 |
| Highest | 142.61% | 1991 |
| Lowest | 81.23% | 2002 |
| Average since 2015 | 93.21% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 90.79% | 1965 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Kuwait's trade (% of GDP) fell 2.04 percentage points on 2023 (from 96.03% to 93.99%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 39.6 percentage points in 1991 and the biggest yearly fall was 47.92 percentage points in 1992. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 16% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2024, Kuwait had the 14th highest value of the 33 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Kuwait | 93.99% | 2024 |
| World | 68.49% | 2025 |
| High income | 60.54% | 2024 |
Closest to Kuwait in the 2024 ranking
- Faroe Islands — 11th of 33: 105.75%
- Kiribati — 12th of 33: 102.11%
- Timor-Leste — 13th of 33: 95.45%
- Panama — 15th of 33: 83.67%
- Lebanon — 16th of 33: 82.23%
- Bermuda — 17th of 33: 80.21%
What this measures
Trade is the sum of exports and imports of goods and services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 60 values
| Year | Trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 93.99 |
| 2023 | 96.03 |
| 2022 | 90.92 |
| 2021 | 82 |
| 2020 | 82.01 |
| 2019 | 91.69 |
| 2018 | 102.79 |
| 2017 | 97.84 |
| 2016 | 96.16 |
| 2015 | 98.7 |
| 2014 | 100.04 |
Trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More economic policy & debt data for Kuwait
- Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$51.74 billion (2025)
- Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$40.65 billion (2025)
- GDP (current US$) — US$157.21 billion (2025)
- GDP (current LCU) — 48.18 billion (2025)
- GDP per capita (current US$) — US$32,312 (2025)
- GDP per capita (current LCU) — 9,902 (2025)
- GNI (current US$) — US$193.99 billion (2024)
- GNI (current LCU) — 59.49 billion (2024)
- GNI per capita (current LCU) — 12,148 (2024)
- General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$41.5 billion (2024)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Kuwait's trade (% of GDP)?
- 93.99% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1965?
- It is up 3.2 percentage points from 90.79% in 1965. The highest value was 142.61% in 1991 and the lowest 81.23% in 2002.
- How does Kuwait rank?
- 14th highest of 33 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in trade (% of GDP) unusual for Kuwait?
- In 2024, Kuwait's trade (% of GDP) fell 2.04 percentage points on 2023 (from 96.03% to 93.99%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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