Kuwaiti Gdp Share Declines By 10%

In this year's Arab Human Development Report, titled "Organizing Opportunities for an Inclusive Recovery and Strengthening the Capacity to Confront Crises in the Post-Covid-19 Era," the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) noted that one of Kuwait's greatest challenges is ensuring food security. The country depends heavily on grain imports, at 98 percent, compared to the UAE, which depends on the staple at nearly 100 percent.

The report also discussed Kuwait's difficulties dealing with the roughly 10% fall in per capita GDP. Aside from that, Kuwait (0.806 points) continues to rank last among the Gulf States, trailing the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. Global income inequality, where the richest ten percent of the population in some nations receives over 60 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (before taxes), with percentages ranging from 38.1 percent in Algeria to 54 percent in Kuwait.

Despite the fact that trust in Arab governments is generally poor, with figures as low as 10% in Libya and 19% in Iraq and Lebanon, it was high in Kuwait in 2018 and 2019, reaching 47%. In the Arab world, it is the third-highest percentage.

The research also highlighted how the response of Arab governments to the pandemic differed substantially between nations and socioeconomic classes, with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries spending $69.9 billion compared to other Arab nations' expenditures of $24.8 billion. This result suggests that responsiveness is due to resource availability as well as coordination with other entities.

The Arab Governance Index, which measures governance through three equally weighted pillars: rule of law, ease of access to justice, accountability and effectiveness of institutions, and participation, however, placed Kuwait first in the Gulf and sixth in the Arab world, while the Corruption Perceptions Index placed Kuwait seventh in the Arab world and fifth in the Gulf region.

The study also revealed that in Arab nations, societal participation was higher than interpersonal trust. According to the data, 78 percent of Kuwaitis reported helping the poor, the second-highest rate after Palestine, in the Arab Barometer study for the years 2018–2019, with 76 percent of Kuwaitis reporting that they donated to charity committees.

Moreover, the report showed that while most Arab nations have social protection systems in place, they leave a sizable portion of the population behind due to structural flaws, noting that a sizable gap in coverage from social insurance and social assistance programs remains to be filled as the low percentage of workers contributors to pension programs in the Middle Eastern countries (31%) and North African countries (38%) mean that a low percentage of workers in these regions are eligible for social assistance programs. Currently, the 95 percent employee coverage of this percentage is 27 percent in the Middle East and 47 percent in North Africa.

The UNDP also made clear that although unemployment insurance is offered in some Arab nations, it is less widely available because of political restrictions and the prevalence of marginal work. For instance, only employees with permanent employment contracts in Algeria are eligible for unemployment benefits, and the Arab region's low rate of workers' compensation for workplace accidents ranges from roughly 15% in Djibouti to 95% in Kuwait.

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