The size of the expat workforce in Kuwait fell for the second year running last year, according to latest figures.
The number of expatriate workers in Kuwait has dropped for the second year in a row, according to a report on Monday.
The expatriate labour force in the Gulf state declined from 1.77m in 2007 to 1.75m in 2008 and fell again last year to 1.74m, according to a report in the Kuwait Times daily newspaper.
However, while the number of workers declined, the overall expatriate population, including workers and their families, rose by 11,000 to 2.37m.
Between 2004 and 2007, the economic boom saw the expatriate population rise by 737,000, but this has now slowed and over the last two years the population has risen by just 26,000.
Asians, who number 1.32m, represent the largest group of expatriates, followed by 984,000 Arabs, and a total 34,500 Europeans, Americans and Australians.
The report also added that 77 percent of Kuwaiti citizens are employed in the public sector, while local citizens make up only four percent of the 1.67m private sector work force
