Economy of Kuwait - Macro-economic Trend

Macro-economic Trend

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Kuwait at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Kuwaiti Dinars.

For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US Dollar is exchanged at 0.288 Kuwaiti Dinars only. Mean wages were $27.83 per manhour in 2009. As for skilled and experienced Kuwaiti (Engineers, Doctors, and Managers) the average monthly salary is hiked up tremendously, to an average of $10,000+ a month excluding living and other benefits. Please, also keep in mind that Kuwait is a tax free country so all the above figures reflect actual take home numbers.

Kuwait is a small country with massive oil reserves, whose economy has been traditionally dominated by the state and its oil industry. During the 1970s, Kuwait benefited from the dramatic rise in oil prices, which Kuwait actively promoted through its membership in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The economy suffered from the triple shock of the 1982 Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash, the mid-1980s drop in oil prices, and the 1990 Iraqi invasion and occupation. The Kuwaiti Government-in-exile depended upon its $100 billion in overseas investments during the Iraqi occupation in order to help pay for the reconstruction. Thus, by 1993, this balance was cut to less than half of its pre-invasion level. The wealth of Kuwait is based primarily on oil and capital reserves, and the Iraqi occupation severely damaged both.

In the closing hours of the Gulf War in February 1991, the Iraqi occupation forces set ablaze or damaged 749 of Kuwait's oil wells. All of these fires were extinguished within a year. Production has been restored, and refineries and facilities have been modernized. Oil exports surpassed their pre-invasion levels in 1993 with production levels only constrained by OPEC quotas.