Located at the tip of the Persian Gulf in Western Asia, the State of Kuwait shipped US$90.5 billion worth of exported products around the globe in 2022.

That estimated dollar amount reflects a 25.8% increase compared to $71.9 billion 5 years earlier in 2018.

Year over year, the overall value of Kuwaiti exported products accelerated by 43.3% compared to $63.1 billion during 2021.

Kuwait’s top 3 most valuable exports are crude oil, processed petroleum oils, and petroleum gases. Collectively, that trio of main exports accounted for 93.7% of Kuwaiti export sales for 2022. Such a high percentage testifies to Kuwait’s intensely concentrated portfolio of exported products.

Given Kuwait’s population of 4.815 million people, its total $90.5 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $18,800 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $12,100 per capita one year earlier for 2021.

Kuwait’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Kuwaiti global shipments during 2022 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.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$85.5 billion (94.5% of total exports)
2. Organic chemicals: $2.3 billion (2.5%)
3. Plastics, plastic articles: $861.8 million (1%)
4. Aircraft, spacecraft: $288.2 million (0.3%)
5. Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $286.4 million (0.3%)
6. Iron, steel: $187.1 million (0.2%)
7. Gems, precious metals: $118.2 million (0.1%)
8. Copper: $106.6 million (0.1%)
9. Aluminum: $104.1 million (0.1%)
10. Electrical machinery, equipment: $66.3 million (0.1%)

Kuwait’s top 10 export categories accounted for 99.3% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Aircraft and spacecraft was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 35,485% from 2021 to 2022.

In second place for improving export sales was the salt, sulphur, stone and cement product category, via a 23,223% advance.

Kuwait’s shipments of gems and precious metals posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 109.6%. That category was propelled by higher international sales of precious metal scrap.

The leading decliner among Kuwait’s top 10 export categories was electrical machinery and equipment, pulled down by a -58.3% year-over-year reduction.

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 70.3% of the country’s total international sales. In second place were processed petroleum oils (19.5%) trailed by petroleum gases 3.9%), cyclic hydrocarbons (1.5%), acyclic alcohols (0.9%), ethylene polymers (0.7%), petroleum oil residues (0.6%), non-sublimed sulphur (0.3%), aircraft and spacecraft (also 0.3%), then propylene or olefin polymers (0.2%).

Products Generating Kuwait’s Largest Trade Surpluses

Overall Kuwait achieved an estimated $63.8 billion trade surplus for 2022, expanding by 104% from $31.2 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.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$82.6 billion (Up by 43.1% since 2021)
2. Organic chemicals: $2.1 billion (Up by 46%)
3. Plastics, plastic articles: $260.5 million (Reversing a -$426.4 million trade deficit)
4. Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $259.1 million (Reversing a -$598.9 million trade deficit)
5. Copper: $24.6 million (Reversing a -$179.9 million trade deficit)
6. Woodpulp: $23.9 million (Reversing a -$5.8 million trade deficit)
7. Lead: $2.4 million (Reversing a -$20,000 trade deficit)
8. Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $1.4 million (Up by 417.1%)
9. Ores, slag, ash: $1.4 million (Reversing a -$5.3 million trade deficit)

Kuwait has 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.

1. Vehicles: -US$4.6 billion (Up by 57.9% since 2021)
2. Machinery including computers: -$2 billion (Down by -16%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.5 billion (Down by -45%)
4. Aircraft, spacecraft: -$1.3 billion (Up by 387393.2%)
5. Articles of iron or steel: -$1.1 billion (Up by 21.3%)
6. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$791.3 million (Up by 16.3%)
7. Pharmaceuticals: -$781.8 million (Down by -52.3%)
8. Meat: -$577.7 million (Down by -0.9%)
9. Cereals: -$573.8 million (Down by -1.3%)
10. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: -$573.1 million (Down by -19.2%)

Kuwait has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits notably caused by purchases of imported vehicles especially cars.

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 36.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($247.8 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 36.5% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 26.8% for 2021. 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 2.5% in 2022, falling below the average 2.8% jobless rate in 2021 according to statistics from Trading Economics.

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 September 7, 2023

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 7, 2023

International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates (Domestic Currency, Period Average). Accessed on September 7, 2023

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 7, 2023

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 7, 2023

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 7, 2023

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on September 7, 2023

Wikipedia, Kuwait. Accessed on September 7, 2023

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Kuwait. Accessed on September 7, 2023

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on September 7, 2023