Unemployment rate: 1.8% (official 1996 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $10.3 billion
expenditures: $14.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(FY97/98 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 1% (1997 est.)

Electricity-capacity: 6.988 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 25 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 13,756 kWh (1995)

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

Exports:
total value: $14.7 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: oil and refined products, fertilizers
partners: Japan 29%, US 16%, Netherlands 13%, Singapore 12% (1996
est.)

Imports:
total value: $7.7 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities : food, construction materials, vehicles and parts,
clothing
partners: US 31%, UK 14%, Japan 13%, Germany 8%, Italy 7% (1996 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$1-0.3055 (January 1998),
0.3033 (1997), 0.2994 (1996), 0.2984 (1995), 0.2976 (1994), 0.3017
(1993)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

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

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 4,450 km
paved: 3,587 km
unpaved: 863 km (1996 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 877 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural gas 165
km

Ports and harbors: Ash Shu'aybah, Ash Shuwaykh, Kuwait,