Kuwait represents Australia's longest standing and largest live sheep market, stretching back to 1960.

In 2016-17, Kuwait imported 643,671 Australian sheep - more than a third of total sheep exports.

Almost six decades of ensuing live sheep trade between Australian exporters and the Middle East, mostly in the Arabian Gulf and Israel, has evolved into a market which now averages two million head per year and plays a substantial role in underpinning farmgate returns for sheep across the country.