Manama: About two thirds of the Kuwaitis who have had a university or vocational education are women, a study has indicated.
The prevalence of women (64%) could be attributed to the fact that Kuwaiti men are often under intense pressure to get employed early, resulting in them foregoing higher education.
According to the study by the National Bank of Kuwait and based on statistics from the Public Authority for Civil Information, 292,000 Kuwaitis have had a formal education, but slightly more than half of them have a diploma or professional degree.
The report indicated that Kuwaitis make up around 32 per cent of the total population of the northern Gulf state.
"There are 3,440,000 people living in Kuwait, with Kuwaitis numbering 1,100,000 and foreigners around 2,340,000," it said.
Slightly over 2.5 million people, or 73% of the total population, were at least 20 years old at the end of June 2009. Kuwaiti nationals make up 22 per cent (558,000 people) of the segment while expatriates are the remaining 2,000,000.
The number of Kuwaiti females in the labour market has risen in the public sector from 35 per cent in June 1999 to 43 per cent in June 2009 while the increase in the private sector jumped remarkably from 27 per cent to 48 per cent over the last ten years.
More than 85% of the Kuwaitis (243,000) are working in the service industry, mainly in the community, social and personal services sector which includes most government agencies.
