Report by the WTO Secretariat

The Kingdom of Bahrain is a high-income country, with a population of about 1.5 million and a GDP per capita of USD 23,300, according to the World Bank. As a result of long-standing diversification efforts, including under Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, the services sector has become the backbone of the economy, accounting for nearly 60% of real GDP in 2020. Nevertheless, petroleum products alone still account for some 18.3% of GDP, with significant contributions to government revenue, exports, and other economic activities. The manufacturing sector (14.2% of GDP) is energy-intensive and the second largest contributor to non-oil GDP, while agricultural activities remain marginal (0.3% of GDP). The economy continues to rely heavily on foreign labour, although sustained efforts to increase the employment share of Bahrainis have borne fruit. Heavily involved in economic activities, the public sector, including stateowned enterprises, continues to be one of the largest employers. Bahrain maintains a fixed exchange rate regime, with a conventional peg of the national currency, the Bahraini dinar, to the US dollar.