Salary gap highlighted between public and private sector wages
Official government statistics revealed an increase in the gap between the salaries of citizens working in the public and private sectors to reach approximately KD 257, as the average monthly wage for citizens working in the government sector reached to about KD 1,600, as compared to an average monthly wage of KD 1,343 for citizens working in the private sector.
The latest statistics issued by the Central Administration of Statistics on the distribution of employment according to the average monthly wage as of 30 September 2023 showed a gender specific disparity, in both the public and private sectors, as average salaries of male citizens amounted to about KD 1,925, compared to KD 1,364 for females.
As for the private sector, the salaries of male citizens exceeded, reaching an average of KD 1,618, compared to an average salary of KD 1,047 for females.
Non-Kuwaiti workers
As for non-Kuwaiti workers, the average salaries of all workers in the public and private sectors amounted to about KD 342, an increase of about two dinars over their average salaries in the corresponding year 2022.
The average wages of non-Kuwaiti workers in the public sector amounted to KD 751, compared to KD 323 average wages of non-Kuwaitis in the private sector.
The statistical figures revealed that the salaries of non-Kuwaiti females are higher than those of males, as their average wage amounted to about KD 482, compared to KD 323 for males.
In comparison with the percentage of salaries in 2023 versus 2022, the numbers showed that citizens’ salaries increased by about KD 40 during the past year, as their average monthly salaries during 2023 reached about KD 1,559, compared to an average wage of KD 1,519 in the corresponding period of 2022, an increase of 2.6%.
80% percentage of Kuwaiti workers in the government
The largest number of Kuwaiti workers is based in the government sector, at 80% of the total number in this sector, 366.9 thousand citizens, compared to 91 thousand non-Kuwaitis in the government sector.
4.7% percentage of Kuwaitis in the private sector
Kuwaitis working in the private sector amounts to 4.7% of the total number of workers in this sector, as their number reached 71.8 thousand, compared to 1.4 million non-Kuwaitis working in this sector.
