TL;DR:
- Domestic workers make up 25.2% of Kuwait’s expatriate labor force as of Q1 2025, totaling around 745,000, a 5.6% decrease from last year.
Indians are the largest group among both domestic and overall expatriate workers, with 42.2% of domestic labor and 35.3% of all expatriate employment.
- Workers from India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Bangladesh account for nearly 90% of Kuwait’s total domestic labor force.
Kuwait’s domestic labor sector is undergoing a notable transformation according to fresh figures released by AlShall Economic Consultants, with domestic workers now making up just over a quarter of the Gulf nation’s expatriate workforce. Recent trends show a marked decline in the overall numbers, reflecting shifting demographic dynamics that are reshaping the country’s labor market.
Overview
By the close of the first quarter of 2025, domestic workers in Kuwait accounted for 25.2% of all expatriate employees, amounting to roughly 745,000 individuals, a 5.6% drop compared to the same period in 2024. Of this workforce, approximately 415,000 were women and 330,000 were men, according to data reported by Al-Seyassah daily.
Nationality-wise breakdown
The breakdown by nationality reveals that the Philippines continues to lead among female domestic staff, with around 131,000 Filipinas employed in this sector as of Q1 2025. This figure, however, is down from nearly 175,000 at the end of the first quarter last year, indicating a significant decrease. Indian nationals take the lead among male domestic workers, numbering some 213,000, down from 248,000 during the previous year’s first quarter.Overall, Indian domestic workers (both men and women) constitute the largest segment, making up 42.2% of Kuwait’s domestic labor force. Sri Lanka and the Philippines follow, with each nationality representing about 17.9% of this segment. Collectively, workers from India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Bangladesh, four out of a total of ten nationalities dominant in Kuwait’s domestic sector—account for a substantial 89.6% of the country’s domestic labor force.Extending the focus to all expatriate workers, AlShall’s report places the number of Indian employees at approximately 884,000. Indians thus represent 29.9% of the nation’s entire labor force, including citizens and 35.3% of the total expatriate workforce, maintaining their lead in both categories. Egypt is ranked second with an estimated 472,000 workers, corresponding to 16% of the total labor pool and 18.8% of expatriate employees. Kuwaiti citizens themselves accounted for about 450,000 of the workforce at the quarter’s end, slightly down from 458,000 one year prior, representing 15.2% of the labor force, a share that could rise if military staff were included.There appears to be some inconsistency concerning Kuwaiti workforce figures, with AlShall citing a total of around 491,000 at the end of June, diverging from official statistics by Kuwait’s Central Statistical Bureau. The report notes that this difference may stem from the inclusion of military or unemployed individuals in the higher estimate.Bangladesh is listed fourth, contributing roughly 278,000 laborers, 9.4% of the complete workforce. The Philippines holds the fifth rank, with its workers in Kuwait numbering about 194,000, making up 6.6% of all workers and 7.7% of expatriate employees.
Outlook
Kuwait’s domestic labor landscape is evidently in flux, with shifts in workforce composition and nationality balances signaling broader trends in the Gulf’s expatriate-dependent economy. While Indians continue to dominate both the domestic and wider employment scenes, reductions in workforce numbers, particularly among female workers from the Philippines, highlight changing recruitment patterns and labor mobility across the region. The ongoing discrepancies in official employment data also suggest a need for greater clarity and transparency in labor reporting as Kuwait adjusts to new demographic realities.
