Kuwait

Kuwait is a high-income Gulf economy almost wholly dependent on oil, which it holds in vast reserves and which funds a generous welfare state for citizens and one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds.

Political gridlock between the elected parliament and the ruling family has long stalled efforts to diversify the petroleum-dominated economy.

Key Sectors

The economy is overwhelmingly based on crude oil and refined products, with sovereign-wealth investments abroad and a small non-oil sector dominated by government employment.