Statistics show an increase in Kuwait’s total imports of various goods and materials which touched about 9.6 billion dinars at the end of last year, an increase of 12%, compared to imports worth 8.5 billion dinars in 2020.
Statistical figures prepared by a local Arabic daily shows consumer goods came at the forefront of the goods that were imported during the past year, as they accounted for about 47% of the total imports in Kuwait, while intermediate goods came in second place with a value of imports amounting to 3.5 billion dinars, then primary production goods with a value of 1.3 billion dinars.
As for the most important commodities imported by Kuwait during the past year, they were as follows:
1 – Primary production goods that included transportation equipment, industrial equipment and other production equipment, with a value of 1.3 billion dinars in 2021, compared to 1.4 billion dinars in 2020, a decrease of 7%, which indicates a decline in industrial activity in the country.
2 – Intermediate goods, including “raw” food and beverages prepared for industrial purposes, industrial supplies, fuel, lubricants and automobile gasoline, at a value of 3.5 billion dinars, compared to 3.01 billion in 2020.
3 – Consumer goods, including food and beverages for domestic consumption, transportation equipment, passenger cars and consumer durables, with a value of 4.62 billion dinars, compared to 4.063 billion dinars in 2020.
As for the most prominent countries from which imports were made during the past year, China topped the list of 10 countries, with imports worth about 1.7 billion dinars, followed by the United Arab Emirates, with about 1.1 billion dinars of imports, a significant increase over the imports of the previous year of 715 million dinars; the US was in third place with exports to Kuwait worth 768 million dinars, then Japan with 553 million dinars, while imports from Saudi Arabia came in fifth place, with a value of 511 million dinars. The value of imports from India, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom was 504, 423, 366 and 288 million dinars, respectively and in the tenth place was Turkey with imports witnessed a great development in recent years, reaching about 227 million dinars, compared to about 192 million dinars in 2020.