That dollar amount results from an 89.3% acceleration compared to $40.1 billion 5 years earlier in 2020.
Year over year, the overall value of Kuwaiti exported products shrank by -9.5% compared to $84 billion starting from 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the Kuwaiti dinar weakened by -0.02% against the US dollar since 2020 but appreciated by 0.2% from 2023 to 2024. Kuwait’s weaker local currency versus 2020 made Kuwaiti exports paid for starting from modestly stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers paying with American currency.
Kuwait’s top 3 most valuable exports are crude oil, processed petroleum oils, and petroleum gases. Collectively, that trio of main exports accounted for 90.7% of Kuwaiti export sales for 2024. Such a high percentage testifies to Kuwait’s intensely concentrated portfolio of exported products.
Given Kuwait’s population of 5 million people, its total $76 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $15,200 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $15,000 per capita one year earlier for 2023.
Kuwait’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Kuwaiti global shipments during 2024 at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Kuwait.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$68.9 billion (90.7% of total exports)
- Organic chemicals: $1.8 billion (2.3%)
- Vehicles: $1.6 billion (2.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $1.1 billion (1.4%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $313.1 million (0.4%)
- Gems, precious metals: $310.4 million (0.4%)
- Machinery including computers: $242 million (0.3%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $156.5 million (0.2%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $152 million (0.2%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $110.2 million (0.1%)
Kuwait’s top 10 export categories accounted for 98.2% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Vehicles represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 78.5% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was plastics, including both as materials and items made from plastic via a 53.8% advance.
Kuwait’s shipments of articles made from iron or steel posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 36.7%.
The leading decliner among Kuwait’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil, pulled down by a -11.8% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, the top 10 most valuable export products are led by crude oil which represents Kuwait’s 46.8% of the country’s total international sales. In second place were processed petroleum oils (39.2%) trailed by petroleum gases (4.7%), cars (1.5%), ethylene polymers (1.3%), acyclic alcohols (1.2%), hydrocarbon derivatives (1.1%), trucks (0.4%), phone devices including smartphones (0.3%) then unwrought gold (also 0.3%).
Products Generating Kuwait’s Largest Trade Surpluses
Overall Kuwait achieved an estimated US$37.9 billion trade surplus for 2024, reducing by -18.5% from $46.5 billion in black ink one year earlier.
The following types of Kuwaiti product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$68.7 billion (Down by -11.8% since 2023)
- Organic chemicals: $1.4 billion (Up by 5.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $255.8 million (Down by -256.6%)
- Milling products, malt, starches: $14.7 million (Down by -26.3%)
- Railways, streetcars: $7.3 million (Up by 61.4%)
- Lead: $4.4 million (Up by 99.9%)
Historically, Kuwait earns highly positive net exports in the international trade of petroleum oils (both crude and refined) as well as petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Kuwait’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels-related product category.
Products Causing Kuwait’s Worst Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Kuwait that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Kuwait’s goods trail Kuwaiti importer spending on foreign products.
- Vehicles: -US$4 billion (Down by -21.1% since 2023)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$3.1 billion (Down by -6%)
- Machinery including computers: -$2.7 billion (Down by -12.2%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$2.3 billion (Up by 23.9%)
- Gems, precious metals: -$2.1 billion (Up by 11%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$1.1 billion (Down by -20.7%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: -$902.6 million (Up by 11.9%)
- Meat: -$865.3 million (Up by 16.5%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$784 million (Down by -6.9%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$656.6 million (Up by 135.3%)
Kuwait has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits notably caused by purchases of imported vehicles especially cars but also trucks and automotive parts or accessories.
Kuwaiti Export Companies
Four Kuwaiti corporations rank among the Forbes Global 2000.
- National Bank of Kuwait (financials)
- Kuwait Finance House (financials)
- Zain (telecommunications)
- Kuwait Projects (financials)
Wikipedia also lists exporters from Kuwait. Selected examples are shown below.
- Afco Aluminium Factory (aluminum)
- Gulfsat (telecommunications)
- Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (petroleum)
- Kuwait National Petroleum Company (petrochemicals)
- Kuwait Oxygen And Acetylene Company (chemicals)
- Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (petroleum)
- Qualitynet (telecommunications)
- United Fisheries of Kuwait (food)
In macroeconomic terms, Kuwait’s total exported goods represent 30.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($249.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 30.5% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 28.3% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Kuwait’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Kuwait’s unemployment rate averaged 2.1% in 2024, equaling the average 2.1% jobless rate in 2023 according to Trading Economics statistics.
Kuwait’s capital city is Kuwait City.
See also Crude Oil Exports by Country, Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Exports, India’s Top Trading Partners, Qatar’s Top 10 Exports and China’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on November 16, 2025
EXCHANGE-RATES.org, Exchange Rates Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) To US Dollar (USD). Accessed on November 16, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 16, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 16, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 16, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 16, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on November 16, 2025
Wikipedia, Kuwait. Accessed on November 16, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Kuwait. Accessed on November 16, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on November 16, 2025