Introducing a New Local Dependency Ratio Model for Arab Wealthy Nations: A Case Study of Kuwait Using GIS

Dependency ratio is a simple demographic indicator measuring the percentage of non-workers over the workforce of a nation. The non-workers are composed by two segments, the youth dependent and aged dependent. These are determined by below 15 years and over 65 years respectively. The index has great utility to determine if a nation is developing or developed. However, in Kuwait, where most of the population are migrants, the index might not reflect the reality of the population. This study hypothesizes that (1) the dependency ratio differs between citizens and migrants, (2) an alternate youth ratio (local ratio) will reflect better the citizen demographic and (3) Kuwait is positioned between developing and developed countries. To test these hypotheses, the study used demographic data to create population layers in ArcGIS. The results showed that spatial demographic differences exist between migrants and citizens living in specific areas of Kuwait. The new local measurement provides a better estimation of the citizen dependency ratio, and these ratios are similar to developing countries for Kuwaitis but not for the overall population, indicating the effect of migrants. This study suggests implementing the modified youth ratio range to other rich Arabic countries. Further studies should be focused in modifying the elderly ratio.