HEAD TO HEAD
Kuwait vs Qatar
Verdict
Qatar holds a 57–43 advantage over Kuwait on the Relative Advantage Index.
The margin is driven by military spending (66% of the combined total, $15.4bn) and economic size (GDP) (58% of the combined total, $219bn). Kuwait leads on active personnel.
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
Factor by factor
| Factor | Kuwait | Share | Qatar | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $8.1bn | 34%66% | $15.4bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $160bn | 42%58% | $219bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 18.0k | 51%49% | 17.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 9 | 50%50% | 9 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-10-22.
