country profile

Kuwait

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanHigh income4.87M population

Last updated July 1, 2026

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Emerging readiness

Composite GEFRI Score

Access & Parity is a strength, but Innovation lags

Kuwait demonstrates early-stage readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (66th percentile worldwide). Investments are generating initial gains, yet substantial gaps persist in several dimensions.

58.45Composite score
Global percentile
66th
Global rank
#61
Regional rank
#6
Viewing data for
Progressing readiness
Infrastructure
66.78
66th percentileGlobal avg. 54.95
Emerging readiness
Human Capital
56.90
71st percentileGlobal avg. 47.14
Severely underprepared
Innovation
39.38
42nd percentileGlobal avg. 45.34
Emerging readiness
Governance
51.56
63rd percentileGlobal avg. 47.93
Advanced readiness
Access & Parity
77.60
68th percentileGlobal avg. 49.93

Country profile

Kuwait remains in the emerging-readiness range, with progress visible but major gaps still limiting future readiness. Most dimension scores sit close to global norms, without a single dimension standing far above the rest.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. High internet adoption enables broad participation in digital learning and innovation.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.

Innovation presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, Kuwait leads most clearly in School Access and Gender Parity, sitting well above the peer average.

Most indicators are observed rather than imputed, so estimation uncertainty is limited.

Key insights

Sits above the global median at the 66th percentile.

Places 61st worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 6th within Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan.

Scores range from Access & Parity (77.6) to Innovation (39.4), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
171Israel74.80
332United Arab Emirates69.88
393Malta64.36
414Saudi Arabia63.92
525Qatar60.51
616Kuwait58.45
627Bahrain58.25
648Jordan57.99
679Oman57.80
8010Morocco53.78
8711Tunisia51.88
8912Iran, Islamic Rep.51.62
9613Egypt, Arab Rep.49.59
10614West Bank and GazaFCS46.16
11215Algeria40.48
11616Djibouti38.70
12317LebanonFCS36.11
12718IraqFCS34.27
12919LibyaFCS33.81
14920Syrian Arab RepublicFCS27.46
15121Yemen, Rep.FCS26.19