Gross domestic product at current prices fell by a revised 23.1 percent in 2009, after the global credit crunch sent crude oil prices plunging. Previously, the world's No. 6 oil exporter had reported a 21.2 percent nominal GDP fall for 2009.
Kuwait authorities often publish economic data long after the period in question has ended. The central bank's latest figures did not include inflation-adjusted GDP data for Kuwait, which depends on income from crude oil for around 93 percent of its government budget.
The International Monetary Fund has estimated Kuwait's economic output expanded 3.4 percent in real terms last year after a 5.2 percent contraction in 2009, which was its most severe shrinkage since the Gulf War ended in 1991.
Despite a fall in crude oil prices over the past six months, Kuwait's real economic growth is expected to accelerate to 4.7 percent this year, a Reuters poll of analysts showed in September.
"The average oil prices in 2011 are higher than 2010 which will push nominal GDP higher," said Mahdi Mattar, chief economist at CAPM Investment.
"So the increase in quantity and increase in prices will definitely mean that 2011 will have a much higher GDP in nominal as well as real terms," he said.
Output of the hydrocarbon sector, which accounts for over 51 percent of Kuwait's economy, jumped 22 percent at current prices in 2010 after a 36.2 percent plunge in the previous year, the central bank data showed.
Household consumption, which makes up around a third of GDP, rose 6.4 percent in nominal terms last year after an 8.5 percent fall in 2009. Gross fixed capital formation soared 24.1 percent after a 21.6 percent slump.
Kuwait's central bank governor told Reuters last month that he was greatly concerned by Europe's debt crisis and its possible impact on the stability of banks there, but he believed local banks were in good enough shape to withstand big global shocks.
The country's top policymakers called on the government this summer to correct imbalances in the economy and trim budget waste, though analysts say political friction between the cabinet and parliament may slow that push.
Despite its wealth, the state-dominated economy has drawn few foreign investors, unlike nearby Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
