Kuwait
QatarCompare countries · Kuwait vs Qatar
Kuwait vs Qatar
KuwaitWestern Asia
QatarWestern Asia
Kuwait is cheaper (cost of living 42.5 vs 50.4) and has the longer life expectancy (84.6 vs 82.5 years).Qatar is more peaceful (Global Peace Index 1.676 vs 1.813), scores higher on human development (0.886 vs 0.852) and has the higher income per person ($74,330 vs $41,110).
Qatar is the more peaceful
- Global Peace Indexlower is more peaceful
- Kuwait1.813High safety#49 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- Qatar1.676Very high safety#31 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- Homicidesper 100,000 people a year
- Kuwait0.2Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2020
- Qatar0.1Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2022
- Safety indexNumbeo's safety index, higher is safer
- Kuwait67.4HighNumbeo · 2026
- Qatar84.8Very highNumbeo · 2026
- UK travel adviceFCDO, for British travellers
- KuwaitNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-29
- QatarNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-29
Income per person is higher in Qatar
- GNI per personnational income per person, US dollars
- Kuwait$41,110Very highWorld Bank · 2024
- Qatar$74,330Very highWorld Bank · 2025
People live longer in Kuwait
- Life expectancyyears, at birth
- Kuwait84.6Very high#3 of 195World Bank · 2024
- Qatar82.5Very high#22 of 195World Bank · 2024
Broadband is faster in Kuwait
- Home internetmedian download speed
- Kuwait225 MbpsVery fast#22 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
- Qatar197 MbpsVery fast#34 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
Human development: Qatar 0.886, Kuwait 0.852
KuwaitQatar
UNDP Human Development Report, 1990–2023.
Practical facts
- Capital
- Kuwait City
- Doha
- Population
- 4.9M (2025)
- 3.0M (2025)
- Languages
- Arabic
- Arabic
- Currency
- Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)
- Qatari riyal (QAR)
- Area
- 17,820 km²
- 11,490 km²
- Plug type
- Type G
- Type G
- Drives on the
- right
- right
- Short visit
- Visa-free for UK, EU and US passports
- Visa-free for UK, EU and US passports
Short visits: passport-index-dataset, 2024, for UK, EU (German) and US passports. Population and area: World Bank. Languages, currency and driving side: restcountries.com. Plug types: worldstandards.eu.
Kuwait and Qatar, side by side
Kuwait leads on 19 Qatar on 343 level94 figures. 14 are held for only one country; the other shows a dash. Rows such as population, religion and tax levels have no better or worse end, so they show both values and no verdict. Level means under 2% apart.
Money and cost20
- PPP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $56,468High
- $128,883Very high
- GDP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $32,312High
- $72,525Very high
- GNI / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- $41,110Very high
- $74,330Very high
- Local purchasing power aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 176.6Very high
- 153.1Very high
- Cost of Living aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 42.5Affordable
- 50.4Moderate
- Cost of living with rent aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 33.3Moderate
- 45.8Very high
- Rent index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 22.0Expensive
- 40.0Very expensive
- Groceries index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 35.8Low
- 41.6Moderate
- Restaurant prices index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 43.4High
- 55.4High
- Property Price-to-Income aheadNumbeo Property Investment · 2026
- 6.5Very affordable
- 5.7Very affordable
- Price level ratio aheadWorld Bank ICP
- 1.017High
- 1.288Very high
- Inflation aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 2.4%Moderate
- 1.3%Low
- Bank AccountWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 74.5%Moderate
- —
- Send Remittance aheadWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- 2.4%Low
- 4.3%High
- Top Income TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 0%
- 0%
- Corporate TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 16%
- 10%
- VAT / GSTWikipedia · 2024
- 0%
- 0%
- GDP (total)World Bank · 2025
- $157 bn
- $216 bn
- FDI InflowsWorld Bank · 2025
- 0.3%
- 1.4%
- Innovation aheadWIPO Global Innovation Index · 2025
- 28.2Moderate
- 34.6High
Work1
- UnemploymentWorld Bank · 2025
- 2.2%
- 0.1%
Equality1
- Gender Inequality aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.188Low
- 0.195Low
Safety9
- Peace Index aheadIEP Global Peace Index · 2026
- 1.813High safety
- 1.676Very high safety
- Safety aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 67.4High
- 84.8Very high
- Homicides / 100k aheadUNODC / World Bank · 2020–2022
- 0.2Very low
- 0.1Very low
- Assault Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2009–2021
- 24.5Moderate
- 0.39Very low
- Robbery Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2009–2021
- 23.5Moderate
- 1.6Very low
- Sexual Violence RateUNODC CTS · 2009
- 18.2Moderate
- —
- Kidnapping Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2009–2021
- 12.8Very high
- 0.25Low
- Road Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 9.2Low
- 7.3Low
- Disaster Risk aheadWorld Risk Index · 2022
- 2.6Low
- 1.170Very low
Health16
- Life Expectancy aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 84.6Very high
- 82.5Very high
- Infant Mortality aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 7Low
- 4.8Low
- Healthcare Quality aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 58.6Fair
- 73.6Good
- UHC Service CoverageLevelWHO GHO · 2023
- 84Very high
- 84Very high
- Physicians / 1k aheadWorld Bank · 2020–2023
- 2.3Moderate
- 3High
- Hospital Beds aheadWorld Bank · 2020–2022
- 2.3Moderate
- 1.300Low
- Out-of-Pocket Health % aheadWorld Bank · 2023
- 10%Very low
- 7.4%Very low
- Healthcare SpendWorld Bank · 2023
- $1,679
- $1,804
- Clean WaterLevelWorld Bank · 2024
- 100%Very high
- 100%Very high
- PM2.5 concentration aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 48.8Very high
- 58.1Very high
- Air-pollution Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 39Low
- 54.5Moderate
- Obesity aheadWHO GHO · 2024
- 40.4%Very high
- 42%Very high
- Tobacco Use aheadWHO GHO · 2010–2023
- 24.7%High
- 18.4%Moderate
- Raised Blood Glucose aheadWHO GHO · 2014
- 19.6%Very high
- 18.9%Very high
- Suicide Rate / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 2.3Very low
- 4.7Low
- Alcohol L / capitaWHO GHO · 2024
- 0.100
- 1.300
Education and getting online8
- PISA MathOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 414Low
- PISA ReadingOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 419Moderate
- PISA ScienceOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 432Moderate
- Education SpendWorld Bank · 2024
- 6.4%
- —
- English Proficiency aheadEF English Proficiency Index · 2025
- 455Low
- 469Low
- InternetLevelWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 100%Very high
- 98.1%Very high
- Home internet speed aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 225 MbpsVery fast
- 197 MbpsVery fast
- Mobile internet speed aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 380 MbpsVery high
- 583 MbpsVery high
Governance and freedom8
- Rule of Law aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.20High
- 0.56High
- Corruption aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.28High
- 0.88Very high
- Political Stability aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.42High
- 1.04Very high
- Government Effectiveness aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.26High
- 1.00Very high
- Regulatory Quality aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.36High
- 1.00Very high
- Democracy aheadEIU Democracy Index · 2025
- 2.8Low
- 3.2Low
- Freedom House aheadFreedom House · 2025
- 30Low
- 25Low
- Press Freedom aheadRSF World Press Freedom Index · 2026
- 40.4Problematic
- 59.8Satisfactory
Quality of life10
- Human Development aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.852Very high
- 0.886Very high
- HappinessWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 6.54Moderate
- —
- Quality of life index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 162.7High
- 182.7Very high
- Climate index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 20.2Very poor
- 36Poor
- WHR: GDPWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.862
- —
- WHR: Social SupportWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.316
- —
- WHR: Healthy Life Exp.World Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.880
- —
- WHR: FreedomWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.031
- —
- WHR: GenerosityWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.110
- —
- WHR: Corruption TrustWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.167
- —
People and planet20
- PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 4,865,298
- 2,972,215
- AreaWorld Bank
- 17,820 km²
- 11,490 km²
- Median AgeWorld Bank age-group shares
- 35.3
- 36
- Population GrowthWorld Bank · 2025
- -0.65%
- 3.92%
- Urban PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 100%
- 99.4%
- Net MigrationWorld Bank · 2025
- 42,775
- 36,288
- Foreign-Born %UN DESA International Migrant Stock · 2024
- 67.3%
- 76.7%
- Fertility RateWorld Bank · 2024
- 1.56
- 1.72
- ChristianPew Research · 2020
- 10.5%
- 12.5%
- MuslimPew Research · 2020
- 80.2%
- 75.9%
- HinduPew Research · 2020
- 8.5%
- 10.6%
- BuddhistPew Research · 2020
- 0.1%
- 0.2%
- JewishPew Research · 2020
- 0%
- 0%
- UnaffiliatedPew Research · 2020
- 0.2%
- 0.3%
- Other religionsPew Research · 2020
- 0.3%
- 0.4%
- CO₂ / Capita aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 23.7Very high
- 47.3Very high
- Renewables aheadWorld Bank · 2021
- 0.1%Very low
- 0%Very low
- Forest CoverWorld Bank · 2023
- 0.4%
- 0%
- Climate Vulnerability aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.362Low
- 0.351Very low
- Climate Readiness aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.470High
- 0.543High
Other1
- LiteracyWorld Bank · 2020
- 96.5%
- —
Quick answers
Is Kuwait cheaper than Qatar?
Numbeo's 2026 cost-of-living index (NYC = 100) puts Kuwait at 42.5 and Qatar at 50.4. Kuwait is about 16% cheaper overall.
Is Kuwait or Qatar safer?
On the Global Peace Index (lower = more peaceful), Kuwait scores 1.81 and Qatar scores 1.68. Qatar ranks as the more peaceful of the two.
Which has the higher quality of life, Kuwait or Qatar?
On the UN Human Development Index, Kuwait scores 0.852 and Qatar scores 0.886. Qatar scores higher on this composite of income, health and education. Single indexes hide trade-offs; the full comparison above shows where each country wins.
What is life like in Kuwait compared to Qatar?
GNI per capita runs $41,110 in Kuwait against $74,330 in Qatar; people live 84.6 years on average against 82.5; Numbeo users rate healthcare 59 against 74. Those are national averages and they hide the thing you actually feel: capital-city costs run well ahead of the national figure in most countries, and rural provision of healthcare and internet often lags the number shown here. The table below splits it indicator by indicator.