Kuwait
United Arab EmiratesCompare countries · Kuwait vs United Arab Emirates
Kuwait vs United Arab Emirates
KuwaitWestern Asia
United Arab EmiratesWestern Asia
Kuwait is cheaper (cost of living 42.5 vs 55.2) and more peaceful (Global Peace Index 1.813 vs 1.927).The United Arab Emirates scores higher on human development (0.940 vs 0.852) and has the higher income per person ($51,550 vs $41,110).About the same on life expectancy (Kuwait 84.6, the United Arab Emirates 83.1 years).
Kuwait is the more peaceful
- Global Peace Indexlower is more peaceful
- Kuwait1.813High safety#49 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- United Arab Emirates1.927High safety#72 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- Homicidesper 100,000 people a year
- Kuwait0.2Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2020
- United Arab Emirates0.7Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2022
- Safety indexNumbeo's safety index, higher is safer
- Kuwait67.4HighNumbeo · 2026
- United Arab Emirates86Very highNumbeo · 2026
- UK travel adviceFCDO, for British travellers
- KuwaitNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-29
- United Arab EmiratesNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-29
Income per person is higher in the United Arab Emirates
- GNI per personnational income per person, US dollars
- Kuwait$41,110Very highWorld Bank · 2024
- United Arab Emirates$51,550Very highWorld Bank · 2024
- Cost of living indexexcluding rent, New York = 100
- Kuwait42.5AffordableNumbeo · 2026
- United Arab Emirates55.2ModerateNumbeo · 2026
Life expectancy: Kuwait 84.6, the United Arab Emirates 83.1
- Life expectancyyears, at birth
- Kuwait84.6Very high#3 of 195World Bank · 2024
- United Arab Emirates83.1Very high#17 of 195World Bank · 2024
Broadband is faster in the United Arab Emirates
- Home internetmedian download speed
- Kuwait225 MbpsVery fast#22 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
- United Arab Emirates398 MbpsVery fast#2 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
Human development: United Arab Emirates 0.940, Kuwait 0.852
KuwaitUnited Arab Emirates
UNDP Human Development Report, 1990–2023.
Year by year:KuwaitUnited Arab Emirates
Practical facts
- Capital
- Kuwait City
- Abu Dhabi
- Population
- 4.9M (2025)
- 11.5M (2025)
- Languages
- Arabic
- Arabic
- Currency
- Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)
- United Arab Emirates dirham (AED)
- Area
- 17,820 km²
- 71,020 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 United Arab Emirates, side by side
Kuwait leads on 17 United Arab Emirates on 384 level97 figures. 6 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 cost21
- PPP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- $56,468High
- $79,344High
- GDP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- $32,312High
- $50,274Very high
- GNI / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- $41,110Very high
- $51,550Very high
- Local purchasing power aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 176.6Very high
- 126.4Very high
- Cost of Living aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 42.5Affordable
- 55.2Moderate
- Cost of living with rent aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 33.3Moderate
- 48.2Very high
- Rent index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 22.0Expensive
- 39.6Very expensive
- Groceries index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 35.8Low
- 44.4Moderate
- Restaurant prices index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 43.4High
- 56.5Very high
- Property Price-to-Income aheadNumbeo Property Investment · 2026
- 6.5Very affordable
- 7.4Very affordable
- Price level ratio aheadWorld Bank ICP
- 1.017High
- 1.170High
- Inflation aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- 2.4%Moderate
- 1.3%Low
- Bank Account aheadWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 74.5%Moderate
- 85.7%High
- Send Remittance aheadWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- 2.4%Low
- 3.1%Moderate
- Top Income TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 0%
- 0%
- Corporate TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 16%
- 0%
- VAT / GSTWikipedia · 2024
- 0%
- 5%
- Tax RevenueWorld Bank · 2024
- —
- 0.6%
- GDP (total)World Bank · 2024–2025
- $157 bn
- $552 bn
- FDI InflowsWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 0.3%
- 8.3%
- Innovation aheadWIPO Global Innovation Index · 2025
- 28.2Moderate
- 44.2High
Work1
- UnemploymentWorld Bank · 2025
- 2.2%
- 2.2%
Equality2
- Gender Inequality aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.188Low
- 0.040Very low
- Inequality-Adj. HDIUNDP HDR
- —
- 0.866Very high
Safety9
- Peace Index aheadIEP Global Peace Index · 2026
- 1.813High safety
- 1.927High safety
- Safety aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 67.4High
- 86Very high
- Homicides / 100k aheadUNODC / World Bank · 2020–2022
- 0.2Very low
- 0.7Very low
- Assault Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2009–2022
- 24.5Moderate
- 2Very low
- Robbery Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2009–2023
- 23.5Moderate
- 1.4Very low
- Sexual Violence Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2009–2016
- 18.2Moderate
- 4.9Very low
- Kidnapping Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2009–2022
- 12.8Very high
- 2.4High
- Road Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 9.2Low
- 5.9Very low
- Disaster Risk aheadWorld Risk Index · 2022
- 2.6Low
- 6.5Moderate
Health16
- Life ExpectancyLevelWorld Bank · 2024
- 84.6Very high
- 83.1Very high
- Infant Mortality aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 7Low
- 3.8Very low
- Healthcare Quality aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 58.6Fair
- 70.8Good
- 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
- 1.900Low
- Out-of-Pocket Health % aheadWorld Bank · 2023
- 10%Very low
- 9.7%Very low
- Healthcare SpendWorld Bank · 2023
- $1,679
- $2,402
- Clean WaterLevelWorld Bank · 2024
- 100%Very high
- 100%Very high
- PM2.5 concentration aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 48.8Very high
- 34.0Very high
- Air-pollution Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 39Low
- 46.7Low
- Obesity aheadWHO GHO · 2024
- 40.4%Very high
- 31.6%High
- Tobacco Use aheadWHO GHO · 2010–2015
- 24.7%High
- 14.3%Low
- Raised Blood Glucose aheadWHO GHO · 2014
- 19.6%Very high
- 15.1%Very high
- Suicide Rate / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 2.3Very low
- 1.7Very low
- Alcohol L / capitaWHO GHO · 2024
- 0.100
- 0.600
Education and getting online8
- PISA MathOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 431Moderate
- PISA ReadingOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 417Moderate
- PISA ScienceOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 432Moderate
- Education SpendWorld Bank · 2021–2024
- 6.4%
- 3.9%
- English Proficiency aheadEF English Proficiency Index · 2025
- 455Low
- 487Low
- InternetLevelWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 100%Very high
- 100%Very high
- Home internet speed aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 225 MbpsVery fast
- 398 MbpsVery fast
- Mobile internet speed aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 380 MbpsVery high
- 681 MbpsVery high
Governance and freedom8
- Rule of Law aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.20High
- 0.54High
- Corruption aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.28High
- 1.15Very high
- Political Stability aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.42High
- 0.83High
- Government Effectiveness aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.26High
- 1.13Very high
- Regulatory Quality aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.36High
- 1.17Very high
- Democracy aheadEIU Democracy Index · 2025
- 2.8Low
- 3.2Low
- Freedom House aheadFreedom House · 2025
- 30Low
- 18Very low
- Press Freedom aheadRSF World Press Freedom Index · 2026
- 40.4Problematic
- 30.9Difficult
Quality of life10
- Human Development aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.852Very high
- 0.940Very high
- Happiness aheadWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 6.54Moderate
- 6.82Moderate
- Quality of life index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 162.7High
- 175.5High
- Climate index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 20.2Very poor
- 43.4Poor
- WHR: GDPWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.862
- 1.980
- WHR: Social SupportWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.316
- 1.096
- WHR: Healthy Life Exp.World Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.880
- 0.710
- WHR: FreedomWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.031
- 1.071
- WHR: GenerosityWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.110
- 0.149
- WHR: Corruption TrustWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.167
- 0.228
People and planet20
- PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 4,865,298
- 11,513,149
- AreaWorld Bank
- 17,820 km²
- 71,020 km²
- Median AgeWorld Bank age-group shares
- 35.3
- 35.7
- Population GrowthWorld Bank · 2025
- -0.65%
- 4.68%
- Urban PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 100%
- 86%
- Net MigrationWorld Bank · 2025
- 42,775
- 158,634
- Foreign-Born %UN DESA International Migrant Stock · 2024
- 67.3%
- 74%
- Fertility RateWorld Bank · 2024
- 1.56
- 1.21
- ChristianPew Research · 2020
- 10.5%
- 14.3%
- MuslimPew Research · 2020
- 80.2%
- 72.9%
- HinduPew Research · 2020
- 8.5%
- 11.8%
- 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%
- 0.5%
- CO₂ / Capita aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 23.7Very high
- 18.3Very high
- Renewables aheadWorld Bank · 2021
- 0.1%Very low
- 1%Very low
- Forest CoverWorld Bank · 2023
- 0.4%
- 4.5%
- Climate Vulnerability aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.362Low
- 0.383Low
- Climate Readiness aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.470High
- 0.587Very high
Other2
- LiteracyWorld Bank · 2020–2024
- 96.5%
- 98.8%
- Mobile MoneyWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- —
- 13.3%
Quick answers
Is Kuwait cheaper than United Arab Emirates?
Numbeo's 2026 cost-of-living index (NYC = 100) puts Kuwait at 42.5 and United Arab Emirates at 55.2. Kuwait is about 23% cheaper overall.
Is Kuwait or United Arab Emirates safer?
On the Global Peace Index (lower = more peaceful), Kuwait scores 1.81 and United Arab Emirates scores 1.93. Kuwait ranks as the more peaceful of the two.
Which has the higher quality of life, Kuwait or United Arab Emirates?
On the UN Human Development Index, Kuwait scores 0.852 and United Arab Emirates scores 0.940. United Arab Emirates 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 United Arab Emirates?
GNI per capita runs $41,110 in Kuwait against $51,550 in United Arab Emirates; people live 84.6 years on average against 83.1; Numbeo users rate healthcare 59 against 71. 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.