
Photo: Jack Versloot · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 17 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Kuwait: Digital & Technology
How ready is a country to use, make and trade technology?
Kuwait is placed 62nd of 198 countries on digital & technology in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 3 key statistics. Readings behind it: GovTech Maturity Index 0.684 (2025); Government AI Readiness Index 43.79 (2025).
Digital & Technology
62nd
of 198 countries placed
Placed from 3 of 3 key statistics
01The evidence
The 3 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Kuwait on digital & technology — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 3
GovTech Maturity Index
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: How far a state has actually got with digital government — the systems it runs and the services it delivers, where AI readiness measures what it is equipped to adopt next.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY 4.0
0.684
GTMI score (0–1)
Higher is better
Kuwait: 0.684. Across the 196 countries in this edition, values run from 0.01 (North Korea) to 0.997 (South Korea); the world median is 0.63.
- World median
- 0.63
- Best in Western Asia
- 0.996 Saudi Arabia
- Land neighbours
- Iraq 0.464 · Saudi Arabia 0.996
Each grey tick is one of 196 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 2 of 3
Government AI Readiness Index
Oxford Insights
Why it is a key: Whether a government is equipped to use modern technology in what it does — its data, its skills and its rules.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
43.79
AI readiness score (0–100)
Higher is better
Ranked 83rd of 195 by Oxford Insights
Kuwait: 43.79. Across the 195 countries in this edition, values run from 12.12 (Guinea-Bissau) to 88.36 (United States); the world median is 40.19.
- World median
- 40.19
- Best in Western Asia
- 71.57 Saudi Arabia
- Land neighbours
- Iraq 29.37 · Saudi Arabia 71.57
Each grey tick is one of 195 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 3 of 3
Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Why it is a key: How much of what a country sells abroad in services is delivered over networks — software, finance, telecoms and professional services — its place in the world’s digital trade.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
57.96
Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports)
Higher is better
Kuwait: 57.96. Across the 170 countries in this edition, values run from 0.377 (Gambia) to 87.15 (Ireland); the world median is 25.42.
- World median
- 25.42
- Best in Western Asia
- 82.14 Israel
- Land neighbours
- Iraq 9.308 · Saudi Arabia 7.429
Each grey tick is one of 170 countries in the 2024 edition.
02Over time
Which way Kuwait is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Government AI Readiness Index
AI readiness score (0–100) · higher is better
KuwaitWorld median
Kuwait fell from 50.61 in 2020 to 43.79 in 2025; the world median went from 39.58 to 40.19.
Every year’s figures
Year Kuwait World median 2025 43.8 40.2 2024 51.3 43.3 2023 49.9 41.4 2022 47.7 40.3 2021 51.0 44.1 2020 50.6 39.6 Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports
Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports) · higher is better
KuwaitWorld median
Kuwait rose from 43.46 in 2010 to 57.96 in 2024; the world median went from 19.88 to 25.42.
Every year’s figures
Year Kuwait World median 2024 58.0 25.42 2023 60.7 26.03 2022 60.1 26.04 2021 68.9 29.80 2020 75.7 29.47 2019 69.7 18.36 2018 72.2 20.09 2017 58.7 18.32 2016 56.8 18.15 2015 54.9 19.57 2014 58.2 21.00 2013 65.0 20.50 2012 42.4 19.56 2011 40.6 19.21 2010 43.5 19.88
03In context
Kuwait beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 198 countries on digital & technology, never a place within the region.
Kuwait and the countries it borders
The standing is each country’s place among all 198 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | GovTech Maturity IndexGTMI score (0–1) | Government AI Readiness IndexAI readiness score (0–100) | Digitally-Deliverable Services ExportsDigitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56th | 0.996 | 71.57 | 7.429 | |
| 62nd | 0.684 | 43.79 | 57.96 | |
| 137th | 0.464 | 29.37 | 9.308 |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Western Asia
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 198.
Placed either side on digital & technology
The countries immediately above and below Kuwait in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Kuwait is ahead of the world, and behind
4 more statistics filed under digital & technology, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median3
Statistics on which Kuwait does better than the middle country measured.
ICT Services ExportsUNCTAD · 2024 · world median 7.47444.787.474No real change since 2014
Kuwait: 44.78 · world median 7.474 · ICT services exports (% of services exports). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 56.25; higher is better.
Position 2nd of 118 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Smartphone OwnershipWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 78.7887.2978.78No earlier reading
Kuwait: 87.29 · world median 78.78 · Adults whose main mobile phone is a smartphone (% of population aged 15+). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 8.663 to 97.36; higher is better.
Position 34th of 140 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Mobile Phone OwnershipWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 91.6894.6791.68No earlier reading
Kuwait: 94.67 · world median 91.68 · Adults who own a mobile phone (% of population aged 15+). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 45.83 to 100; higher is better.
Position 47th of 140 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median1
Statistics on which Kuwait does worse than the middle country measured.
Government Internet ShutdownsV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 2025 · world median 1.0230.8291.023No real change since 2015
Kuwait: 0.829 · world median 1.023 · Original latent estimate (≈ −4 to +2); higher = fewer shutdowns. V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -3.547 to 2.081; higher is better.
Position 96th of 176 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for Kuwait
ICT Goods Exports (last 2023). Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Digital & Technology among Kuwait’s 15 topics
Digital & Technology is Kuwait’s 5th best-placed topic of 15. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Work & Labour12th of 1824/4 keys
- Education & Knowledge23rd of 1712/4 keys
- Health & Wellbeing49th of 2004/4 keys
- Risk & Resilience58th of 1923/3 keys
- Digital & Technology62nd of 1983/3 keys
- Development & Human Capitaljoint 76th of 1963/3 keys
- Governance & Institutions76th of 1944/4 keys
- Food & Agriculture74th of 1752/4 keys
- Economy & Innovation87th of 1764/4 keys
- Mobility & Trade75th of 1472/3 keys
- Peace & Security103rd of 1774/4 keys
- Democracy & Civil Liberties143rd of 1983/3 keys
- Energy143rd of 1933/3 keys
- Gender & Equality178th of 1833/4 keys
- Environment & Sustainability181st of 1812/3 keys
No standing on Poverty & Inequality: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on digital & technology
The three countries placed highest of 198, and the leaders Kuwait can most readily be measured against.
1India
Southern Asia
1st of 198 · 3 of 3 keys
Photo: Kumaravels derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי · CC BY 2.5 in, greyscale
2Brazil
South America
2nd of 198 · 3 of 3 keys
Photo: Luis Rizo derivative work: Jjtkk · Public domain, greyscale
3South Korea
Eastern Asia
3rd of 198 · 3 of 3 keys
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Asia
India1st3/3 keys
Highest in Western Asia
Bahrain28th3/3 keys
This page
Kuwait62nd3/3 keys
Positions out of 198 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Kuwait on digital & technology: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Kuwait rank on digital & technology?
Kuwait is placed 62nd of 198 countries on Digital & Technology in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 3 key statistics (GovTech Maturity Index, Government AI Readiness Index and Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest GovTech Maturity Index figure for Kuwait?
0.684 in 2025 (gTMI score (0–1)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 0.63.
What is the latest Government AI Readiness Index figure for Kuwait?
43.79 in 2025 (aI readiness score (0–100)), according to Oxford Insights. The world median in the same edition was 40.19.
How does Kuwait compare with Iraq on digital & technology?
Iraq is placed 137th of 198, and Kuwait 62nd. GovTech Maturity Index: Iraq 0.464, Kuwait 0.684; Government AI Readiness Index: Iraq 29.37, Kuwait 43.79; Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports: Iraq 9.308, Kuwait 57.96.
How have Kuwait’s digital & technology figures changed?
Government AI Readiness Index fell from 50.61 in 2020 to 43.79 in 2025; Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports rose from 43.46 in 2010 to 57.96 in 2024.
Which digital & technology statistics are missing for Kuwait?
No current reading is published for Kuwait on ICT Goods Exports. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Keep reading
Explore further
Kuwait, topic by topic
- Governance & Institutions76th of 194
- Economy & Innovation87th of 176
- Work & Labour12th of 182
- Education & Knowledge23rd of 171
- Health & Wellbeing49th of 200
- Development & Human Capital=76th of 196
- Environment & Sustainability181st of 181
- Gender & Equality178th of 183
- Democracy & Civil Liberties143rd of 198
- Peace & Security103rd of 177
- Risk & Resilience58th of 192
- Mobility & Trade75th of 147
- Food & Agriculture74th of 175
- Energy143rd of 193
- The full Kuwait profile
Nearby, on digital & technology
The key statistics, for every country
09Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Internet users, broadband and mobile subscriptions, connection speeds and the cost of getting online are all absent, for the licence reason above; how many adults own a mobile phone or a smartphone, from the World Bank’s own survey, is published here as context. The ICT share of goods exports votes under Mobility & Trade. Cybersecurity, digital public services and data-protection law are not held yet either. Research and development spending is filed under Education & Knowledge, and what an economy knows how to make is under Economy & Innovation.
How the Digital & Technology standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 3 indicators on this topic are keys and 5 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2024 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 3 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 198 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 3.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- GovTech Maturity Index — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Government AI Readiness Index — Oxford Insights, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports — UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), CC BY 3.0 IGO
The other 4 statistics on this page come from 3 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Kuwait’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Kuwait (banner) — Jack Versloot, CC BY 2.0
- India — Kumaravels derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי, CC BY 2.5 in
- Brazil — Luis Rizo derivative work: Jjtkk, Public domain
- South Korea — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Kuwait: Digital & Technology — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/kuwait/digital