After a lacklustre performance since 2019, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and depressed global oil prices, Kuwait’s economy grew strongly in 2022 on the back of a rebound in both prices and production. After contracting by 8.9% in 2020 — the biggest decrease in the Arabian Gulf — the country’s economic growth rebounded to 1.3% in 2021 and 8.7% in 2022, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data.
Growth is likely to be slower in 2023, however, reflecting slowing external demand and oil production cuts under the agreement with OPEC+ (a group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with 10 other major oil producing countries), with gross domestic product (GDP) set to increase by just 2.6% — lower than the average forecast for the region (see graphic on page 60).
