Bahrain FDI rises 81pc in decade

Foreign direct investment in Bahrain rose by 81 pc over the past decade, from BD9.797 billion at the end of 2016 to BD17.733bn by the end of 2025, the latest figures show.

The increase was worth BD7.936bn and took the foreign direct investment balance to its highest point in the 2016–25 period.

Bahrain moved from less than BD10bn in foreign direct investment in 2016 to nearly BD17.8bn by the end of 2025. The increase was spread across several phases: gains before the pandemic, further growth during the COVID years, a large rise in 2023, and smaller increases in 2024 and 2025.

The compound annual growth rate for the full period was about 6.8 pc. Foreign direct investment stood at BD9.797bn at the end of 2016, before rising to BD10.333bn in 2017, BD10.972bn in 2018, and BD11.537bn in 2019.

That added BD1.740bn over three years, a rise of about 17.8 pc. The balance continued to rise during the pandemic years. It reached BD11.921bn at the end of 2020, BD12.590bn in 2021, and BD13.628bn in 2022.

That meant an increase of BD1.707bn between 2020 and 2022, or about 14.3 pc. The sharpest annual rise came in 2023.

Foreign direct investment grew from BD13.628bn at the end of 2022 to BD16.345bn at the end of 2023. The gain, worth BD2.717bn, amounted to about 19.9 pc in one year.

The total then rose to BD17.424bn at the end of 2024 and BD17.733bn by the end of 2025. From the end of 2023 to the end of 2025, Bahrain added a further BD1.388bn to its foreign direct investment balance.

The later years accounted for much of the decade’s increase. From the end of 2019 to the end of 2025, foreign direct investment rose by BD6.195bn, or about 53.7 pc. Foreign direct investment is often seen as a gauge of longer-term foreign investor confidence, as it usually involves stakes in companies, projects, or assets rather than short-term capital flows.

The figures show Bahrain ending 2025 with a foreign direct investment balance close to BD18bn, after starting the ten-year period at just under BD9.8bn.