Card Transactions Outside Kuwait Reach 318.3 Million Dinars in July 2026
The value of transactions made outside Kuwait using cards issued by Kuwait’s local banks reached 318.3 million dinars in July 2026, on our calculation summing the Central Bank of Kuwait’s point-of-sale, automated-teller-machine, and online payment-gateway data, out of about 3,785.0 million dinars in total card-transaction value for the month across all three channels, inside and outside the country combined, also on our calculation.
Foreign Transactions Make Up 8.4 Percent of the Card Total
Transactions made outside Kuwait accounted for about 8.4 percent of total card-transaction value in July, on our calculation, against roughly 3,466.7 million dinars in transactions made inside Kuwait for the month, on our calculation summing the same underlying data.
Monthly Trend
Total card-transaction value, combining transactions made inside and outside Kuwait across point-of-sale, ATM, and online payment-gateway channels, has moved as follows over the past several months, on our calculation from the same monthly releases:
| Month | Total card-transaction value (million dinars) | Transactions (thousands) |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | 3,704.4 | 123,476.6 |
| December 2025 | 3,948.2 | 128,915.7 |
| January 2026 | 4,030.8 | 126,142.7 |
| February 2026 | 3,630.0 | 113,992.6 |
| March 2026 | 3,728.1 | 111,861.5 |
| April 2026 | 3,494.8 | 117,998.2 |
| May 2026 | 3,769.7 | 131,365.1 |
| June 2026 | 3,713.9 | 122,764.4 |
| July 2026 | 3,785.0 | 127,418.9 |
Summing the January through July 2026 figures gives cumulative card-transaction value of about 26,152.3 million dinars over the seven months, on our calculation, an average of about 123.4 million dinars a day. Transactions made outside Kuwait specifically totaled about 1,695.2 million dinars over the same seven months, on our calculation, an average of about 8.0 million dinars a day. The share of card-transaction value taking place outside Kuwait ranged from a low of about 4.6 percent in March 2026 to a high of about 8.4 percent in July, on our calculation, over the nine months shown above.
Why it matters: Card-transaction data provide a relatively current, granular indicator of payment activity. Transactions made outside Kuwait capture overseas point-of-sale purchases, foreign ATM withdrawals, and cross-border online payments made using locally issued cards, making the series useful for tracking changes in international card usage, relevant to Kuwait’s balance of payments and to oversight of the country’s payment systems.
Outlook: This data is published monthly; the August 2026 release will show whether the share of card-transaction value taking place outside Kuwait continues to rise from July’s 8.4 percent or eases back toward the lower readings seen earlier in 2026.
Source: Central Bank of Kuwait, Electronic Payment Transactions Inside and Outside the State of Kuwait (Tables 27-1, 27-2, and 27-3), data for July 2026
