Foreign Investment Rises to BD17.64bn

Finance, manufacturing and professional services lead the portfolio

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Foreign investment in Bahrain grew by almost half a billion dinars in a year, despite slipping in the first three months of 2026.

The stock of foreign direct investment stood at BD17.64 billion at the end of March, up BD449.4 million, or 2.6 pc, from BD17.19bn a year earlier.

It was, however, down BD140.8m, or 0.8 pc, from BD17.78bn at the end of December.

Finance and insurance dwarfed every other field, accounting for BD11.49bn, or 65.2 pc of the total.

Manufacturing came second with BD2.29bn, followed by professional, scientific and technical work at BD1.06bn.

Electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply held BD741.86m in foreign investment, while wholesale and retail trade, including vehicle repairs, accounted for BD628.03m.

Property stood at BD611.92m, with information and communications at BD493.83m.

The figures also covered mining and quarrying, transport and storage, hotels and food services, education, administrative work and support services.

Bahrain’s foreign investment stock stayed above BD17bn throughout the past year.

It rose from BD17.19bn in the first quarter of 2025 to BD17.27bn in the second and BD17.48bn in the third, before reaching BD17.78bn in the final three months of the year.

The figure then eased to BD17.64bn in the first quarter of 2026.

The data measures the value of foreign direct investment held in Bahrain at the end of each quarter. It does not show how much new foreign money entered during those three months.

The year-on-year rise shows that Bahrain held almost half a billion dinars more in foreign direct investment than it did 12 months earlier, even after the fall from December.

Finance remains the chief draw for overseas capital, while manufacturing, property, trade and specialist services account for much of the rest.