Development Co‑operation Profiles: Kuwait
Table of contents
Kuwait provides its development co-operation in pursuance of its commitment to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and within the context of Kuwait’s Vision for 2035. As fundamental and long-standing pillar of its foreign policy, Kuwait provides international co-operation through technical and financial support to developing countries, in particular to vulnerable and least developed countries (LDCs). Kuwait’s main implementing agency is the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED). Kuwait provided USD 1 billion of official development assistance (ODA) in 2024, representing 0.53% of gross national income (GNI).
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Kuwait’s policy framework for development co-operation provides guidance for its activities, which target various sectors, notably agriculture and irrigation, transport and communications, energy, industry, and water and sanitation. Most of its operations have been geared towards assisting partner countries in achieving the 17 SDGs by 2030, with a focus on eradicating poverty and ending hunger to achieve food security globally.
Kuwait provided USD 1 billion (preliminary data) of ODA in 2024 (USD 1 billion in constant terms) representing 0.53% of GNI.1 This was an increase of 130.9% in real terms in volume and in the share of GNI from 2023. Kuwait is not in line with international commitment to achieve a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio. Within Kuwait’s ODA portfolio in 2023, 52.9% was provided in the form of grants and 47.1% in the form of non-grants.2
Note: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income.
Kuwait provided a higher share of its ODA bilaterally in 2023. Gross bilateral ODA was 60.6% of total ODA disbursements. Thirteen per cent of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2023, Kuwait provided USD 53.3 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, an increase of 85.2% in real terms from 2022. Of this, USD 44.2 million was core multilateral ODA (39.4% of total ODA), while USD 9.1 million was non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. Project-type funding earmarked for a specific theme and/or country accounted for 94.5% of Kuwait’s non-core contributions and 5.5% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific‑purpose programmes and funds).
The United Nations (UN) system received 42.3% of Kuwait’s contributions to multilateral organisations, of which USD 8.4 million (37.1%) represented earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 22.6 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of Kuwait’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were the International Fund for Agricultural Development (USD 10.6 million), the United Nations Secretariat (USD 3.6 million) and the United Nations Development Programme (USD 2.8 million).
See the section on Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2023, Kuwait’s bilateral spending declined compared to the previous year. It provided USD 68 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented a decrease of 87.6% in real terms from 2022.
In 2023, country programmable aid amounted to USD 57.4 million, or 84.3% of Kuwait’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to the non-DAC country average of 37.7%.
In 2023, Kuwait channelled its bilateral ODA mainly through public sector, followed by multilateral organisations.
In 2023, Kuwait’s bilateral ODA primarily focused on countries in Africa. USD 26.9 million was allocated to countries in Africa and USD 17.4 million to the Middle East, accounting respectively for 39.6% and 25.6% of gross bilateral ODA. USD 8.6 million was allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean. Asia (excluding the Middle East) was also the main regional recipient of Kuwait’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2023, 65.5% of gross bilateral ODA went to Kuwait’s top 10 recipients. Its top 10 recipients are spread over many regions, including Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 8.2%.
In 2023, Kuwait allocated 23.4% of Kuwait’s gross bilateral ODA (USD 15.9 million) to LDCs, representing 0.01% of its GNI. Kuwait allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (40.6%) to upper middle-income countries in 2023, noting that 8.2% was unallocated by income group. Additionally, Kuwait allocated 10.8% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2023, equal to USD 7.3 million. Kuwait allocated 7.9% of gross bilateral ODA to small island developing states in 2023, equal to USD 5.4 million.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility was USD 24.2 million in 2023, representing 35.6% of Kuwait’s gross bilateral ODA. Twelve per cent of this ODA was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, an increase from 7.3% in 2022, while 0.6% was allocated to peace, a decrease from 1.2% in 2022. Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, more than half of Kuwait’s bilateral ODA was allocated to social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 65.6% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 6.7 million), with a strong focus on support to other social infrastructure and services (USD 3.5 million), health and population (USD 1.9 million), and water supply and sanitation (USD 1.2 million). ODA for humanitarian assistance totalled USD 2 million, with a focus on emergency response (USD 2 million). Production sectors amounted to USD 1.5 million (14.7% of bilateral ODA). Earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations focused also on social sectors and production sectors in 2023.
In 2023, Kuwait also:
Allocated 4.9% of its bilateral ODA (USD 3.4 million) to core poverty-reducing sectors as defined by SDG 1.a.1, which captures grants to basic social services (basic health and education, water supply and sanitation, multisector aid for basic social services) and development food aid. A further 1.5% of bilateral ODA (USD 1 million) went to social protection support.
Committed USD 1.5 million (14.7% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to promote aid for trade and improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy in 2023.
Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) is an international statistical standard that monitors and increases transparency of all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs in developing countries, as well as for addressing global challenges. In 2023, activities reported by Kuwait as TOSSD totalled USD 109.3 million, down from USD 485.9 million in 2022. Kuwait’s TOSSD activities mostly targeted SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.
Kuwait’s Law No. 35 of 1961 created the legal basis for KFAED to act as an implementing agency in all developing countries on behalf of the Kuwaiti government. KFAED was the first fund to be established in the Arab world. Initially an institution for development co‑operation with other countries in the Arab region, it has developed into a global provider. KFAED acts under the Prime Minister’s overall supervision. Since 2003, the fund’s mandate has been transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It primarily provides concessional loans and co-finances projects, guarantees and technical assistance to support development projects with high priority to partner countries, based on a demand-driven approach.
Other ministries, public authorities and non-governmental organisations also promote international development, notably the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which can also provide humanitarian assistance.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Kuwait Vision for 2035: https://www.mofa.gov.kw/en/pages/kuwait-vision-2035
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development: https://www.kuwait-fund.org/en/web/kfund
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait: https://aid.mofa.gov.kw
Kuwait has been a Participant of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 2018.
Kuwait has been reporting to the OECD since 1970 and reporting activity-level data since 2011 on 2010 activities.
Kuwait is an Adherent to the Protocol amending the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Learn more about OECD legal instruments and DAC Recommendations.
KFAED is a member of the Arab Coordination Group. In this context, it participates in regular Arab-DAC Dialogues.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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← 1. DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.
← 2. Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.