Consumption driving Kuwait’s economic rebound; population declines to 4.63m

Consumption driving Kuwait’s economic rebound; population declines to 4.63m

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s post-pandemic recovery is proceeding apace, facilitated by a relatively high vaccination rate that has helped push daily new coronavirus cases down to the low double digits. Keen for the economy to return to a pre-pandemic normal as quickly as possible, the government moved in recent weeks to lift all mobility restrictions for vaccinated people and permitted the airport to open to full capacity. The list of countries eligible for commercial and tourist visit visas was also widened.

Consumer activity has driven the non-oil economic recovery, accelerating to record highs on pent-up demand and support from the government’s loan repayment holiday for nationals. Real estate activity has also rebounded, with residential property sales seeing good growth partly as investor preferences shift towards that sector. Household credit growth also remained in double digits in the third quarter, while the local equity market built on momentum from the second quarter to notch up further gains and put in one of the best performances among emerging markets so far this year.

Of course, the annual growth rebound across various metrics appears more impressive given the low base of a very weak 2020, and weak spots do remain, notably in the business sector, which has