Part 462

GDP - real growth rate: 3% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $16,700 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 0% industry : 42% services: 58% (1994)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 4.5% (1996 est.)

Labor force: total: 1 million (1994 est.) by occupation: industry and agriculture 25%, services 25%, government and social services 50% (1994 est.) note: 72.07% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (July 1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 1.8% (official 1996 est.)

Budget: revenues: $10 billion expenditures : $14 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY96/97 est.)

Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, desalination, food processing, construction materials, salt, construction

Industrial production growth rate: 1% (1995 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 6.99 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 21.76 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 12,793 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: practically no crops; extensive fishing in territorial waters

Exports: total value: $13.6 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.) commodities : oil partners: Japan 23%, India 16%, US 12%, Singapore 10%, Netherlands 10% (1995 est.)

Imports: total value: $8.4 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.) commodities: food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing partners : US 24%, UK 14%, France 13%, Japan 10%, Germany 8% (1995 est.)

Debt - external: $8 billion (1995 est.)

Economic aid: $NA

Currency: 1 Kuwaiti dinar (KD) = 1,000 fils

Exchange rates: Kuwaiti dinars (KD) per US$1 - 0.3010 (January 1997), 0.2994 (1996), 0.2984 (1995), 0.2976 (1994), 0.3017 (1993)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

@Kuwait:Communications

Telephones: 548,000 (1991 est.)

Telephone system: the civil network suffered some damage as a result of the Gulf war, but most of the telephone exchanges were left intact and, by the end of 1994, domestic and international telecommunications had been restored to normal operation; the quality of service is excellent domestic: new telephone exchanges provide a large capacity for new subscribers; trunk traffic is carried by microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, open wire and fiber-optic cable; a cellular telephone system operates throughout Kuwait and the country is well supplied with pay telephones international: coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 1 Arabsat

Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 0, shortwave 0

Radios: 720,000 (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 3 (1986 est.)

Televisions: 800,000 (1993 est.)

@Kuwait:Transportation