Manama: Kuwaiti families spend an average of 3,723 dinars (Dh47,903, $13,000) a month, a survey on family spending in the northern Arabian Gulf nation has revealed.
Around 14 per cent is spent on food, drinks and tobacco while 6.6 per cent is devoted to clothes and shoes, according to the survey by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB).
Recreation and entertainment take up 21.8 per cent of the expenses and 8.8 per cent on transport and communication.
However, a Kuwaiti family spends only 1.9 per cent of its monthly income on education and 1.8 per cent on health care, due mainly to the free education and health services provided by the state.
Restaurants and hotels use up 2.6 per cent of the expenses while cultural activities receive 3.8 per cent.
According to Abdullah Sahar, the head of CSB, a non-Kuwaiti family spends 927 dinars a month, with a breakdown percentage that is very similar to that of the Kuwaiti family, local Arabic daily Al Watan reported on Tuesday.
About two thirds of Kuwait’s total population of 3.1 million people are foreigners, mainly Asians working in the booming construction and service sectors.
Egyptians, with around 455,000 people, make up the largest Arab community.
The authorities, concerned about the dangers associated with a large non-Kuwaiti community, earlier this year said that they were looking into addressing the demographic imbalance by reducing the number of foreigners by one million in ten years, with an average of 100,000 expatriates repatriated every year.
