
Tourism in Kuwait
Kuwait recorded a total of 9 m tourists in 2019, ranking 47th in the world in absolute terms.That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Kuwait, the result is much more comparable picture: With 2.0 tourists per resident, Kuwait ranked 52nd in the world. In Western Asia, it ranked 5th.
Kuwait generated around 1.18 bn US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.87 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 1 percent of all international tourism receipts in Western Asia.
A global comparison can be found here › International tourism
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On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2019 spent about 120 US Dollars.

Development of the tourism sector in Kuwait from 1995 to 2019
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Kuwait each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g. crew members of ships or flights are also not considered as tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 18 countries in Western Asia.

Revenues in tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 307.00 m USD, or about 1.1 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 1.44 m tourists at that time and roughly 213 USD per person. Within 24 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased noticeably. In the last year of the survey, the revenue now amounts to 1.18 bn USD, accounting for 0.87 percent of the gross national product. Each visitor now spends an average of 137 USD for his holiday in Kuwait.
All data for Kuwait in detail
Year | Number | Receipts | % of GNP | Income |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 8.57 m | 1.18 bn $ | 0.87 % | 137 $ |
2018 | 8.51 m | 919.00 m $ | 0.65 % | 108 $ |
2017 | 7.41 m | 643.00 m $ | 0.53 % | 87 $ |
2016 | 7.06 m | 831.00 m $ | 0.76 % | 118 $ |
2015 | 6.94 m | 931.00 m $ | 0.81 % | 134 $ |
2014 | 6.53 m | 615.00 m $ | 0.38 % | 94 $ |
2013 | 6.22 m | 619.00 m $ | 0.36 % | 100 $ |
2012 | 5.73 m | 780.00 m $ | 0.45 % | 136 $ |
2011 | 5.57 m | 644.00 m $ | 0.42 % | 116 $ |
2010 | 5.21 m | 574.00 m $ | 0.50 % | 110 $ |
2009 | 5.09 m | 660.00 m $ | 0.62 % | 130 $ |
2008 | 4.74 m | 610.00 m $ | 0.41 % | 129 $ |
2007 | 4.48 m | 530.00 m $ | 0.46 % | 118 $ |
2006 | 3.90 m | 508.00 m $ | 0.50 % | 130 $ |
2005 | 3.47 m | 413.00 m $ | 0.51 % | 119 $ |
2004 | 3.06 m | 398.00 m $ | 0.67 % | 130 $ |
2003 | 2.60 m | 328.00 m $ | 0.69 % | 126 $ |
2002 | 2.32 m | 320.00 m $ | 0.84 % | 138 $ |
2001 | 2.07 m | 286.00 m $ | 0.82 % | 138 $ |
2000 | 1.94 m | 394.00 m $ | 1.0 % | 203 $ |
1999 | 1.88 m | 342.00 m $ | 1.1 % | 182 $ |
1998 | 1.76 m | 456.00 m $ | 1.8 % | 259 $ |
1997 | 1.64 m | 396.00 m $ | 1.3 % | 242 $ |
1996 | 1.57 m | 389.00 m $ | 1.2 % | 249 $ |
1995 | 1.44 m | 307.00 m $ | 1.1 % | 213 $ |
All data correspond to the information of the World Tourism Organization.