Bahrain’s economy expanded by 2.5% year-on-year in real terms during the third quarter of 2023, according to the preliminary data released by the Information and eGovernment Authority. The growth was predominantly led by the Non-oil sector, which surged by 4.5% year-on-year in the same period.
Non-oil sectors played a pivotal role in bolstering the Kingdom’s economic growth, contributing significantly to 83.6% of the real GDP in Q3 2023. From January to October of the same year, the average consumer price index (inflation) remained steady at 0.2%.
Top non-oil sectors
Among the sectors, the Hotels and Restaurants sector witnessed the highest growth rate of 9.4% year-on-year, attributed to a 2-percentage-point increase in hotel occupancy rates at 4- and 5-star hotels, reaching 49% and a 17.9% surge in total tourism overnights to 4.8 million nights.
The Financial Corporations sector observed an 8.4% year-on-year growth, consistently contributing the most to the total real GDP for four consecutive quarters, amounting to 18.1%. Various financial indicators, including the value of the Electronic Funds Transfer System (Fawri+, Fawri, and Fawateer), expanded by 15.6% year-on-year, reaching BHD 7.2 billion.
Other notable sectors, such as Trade, demonstrated a 5.9% year-on-year growth with increased mall footfall by 5.6% and a 5.1% rise in the value of Point of Sale and e-commerce transactions. Additionally, the Real Estate and Business Activities sector grew by 2.8% year-on-year, primarily driven by a robust 5.4% increase in real estate activities, resulting in a 7.1% growth in real estate trading, reaching BHD 272 million.
Strong performance
The report highlighted Bahrain’s strong performance in global competitiveness indices. The Kingdom improved its position to 44th globally out of 134 countries in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023 issued by INSEAD. Also, it showed progress in the Basel AML Index 2023 by improving 10 spots.
Moreover, Bahrain ranked 4th globally in the Islamic Finance Development Report 2023 and achieved a score of 96.5 out of 100 points in the ICT Development Index 2023, published by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), positioning the country among the top ten globally.
