Bahrain: Improving Growth
Bahrain strives to expand its role as a regional financial hub.
Bahrain GDP and Economic Data
Includes Bahrain real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Bahrain economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Bahrain best banks and safest banks are also available.
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Source
Gross Domestic Product - GDP
USD 38.3 billion (2018, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
Intl$ 74.1 billion (2018, estimate)
Real GDP growth
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| 8.3% | 6.2% | 2.5% | 4.3% | 2% | 3.7% | 5.4% |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* | ||
| 4.4% | 2.9% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 1.8% |
*Estimate
GDP per capita - current prices
USD 25,850.5 (2018, estimate)
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 0.3%
- industry: 43.4%
- services: 55.3%
(2018 estimate)
Inflation
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| 1.8% | 2.8% | 1.4% | 2.1% | 1.4% |
*Estimate
Unemployment rate
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 3.4% | 3.7% | 3.6% | 3.9% | 4% |
*Estimate
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| 66% | 81.3% | 88.2% | 94.7% | 101.7% |
*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| -18.4% | -17.6% | -14.2% | -11.9% | -8% |
*Estimate
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: B+
Moody's: B2
Standard & Poor's / Moody's
Source
Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 19.4 billion | USD 21.7 billion | USD 21.9 billion |
Source
Current account balance by percentage of GDP
-5.9 % (2018 estimate)
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
88.1% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export
0.10% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
0.21% (2018)
Export commodities
Petroleum and petroleum products, aluminum, textiles
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Exports - major partners
UAE 19.6%, Saudi Arabia 11.7%, US 10.8%, Oman 8.1%, China 6.5%, Qatar 5.7%, Japan 4.2% (2017)
Imports - major partners
China 8.8%, UAE 7.2%, US 7.1%, Australia 5.3%, Japan 4.8% (2017)
FDI inflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 243 million | USD 1,426 million | USD 1,515 million |
FDI outflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD -880 million |
USD 229 million |
USD 111 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD -649 million | USD -705 million | USD 922 million | USD -90 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
N/A
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
N/A
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking:
43 out of 190 countries
Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 67 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 17 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 72 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 17 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 94 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 51 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 1 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 77 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 59 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 60 out of 190 countries
Source
Global competitiveness ranking
45 out of 141 countries
(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 54 / Score: 66.4 (Moderately free)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
Source
Source
Religions
Muslim 73.7%, Christian 9.3%, Jewish 0.1%, other 16.9% (2017 est.)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020* |
| 0.49 million | 0.64 million | 1.24 million | 1.37 million | 1.54 million |
*Estimate
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2018 |
| 82.3% | 86.1% | 88.4% | 89.3% |
Literacy
Total population: 95.7%
Male: 96.9%
Female: 93.5%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
Freedom House rating
Not Free
Political Rights: 7
Civil Liberties: 6 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 18.4% Mobile: 133.3% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)