The expat connection

Bahrain was ranked the best ‘digitally-connected’ country for expats in the GCC by a new study.  InterNations, the largest global community, and resource for people living abroad has named Bahrain as the best in the Gulf when it comes to serving the digital needs of expatriates.

Furthermore, the study also concluded Bahrain to be the 12th best country in the world in terms of digital connectivity. The study considered numerous indices including ease of getting a local mobile phone number, easy access to online services, easy access to e-payment solutions, and access to a high-speed internet connection. 

7th globally in govt services

Additionally, Bahrain ranks 7th in ‘ability of government services online’. Bahrain was best rated for the availability of administrative or government online services (7th out of 68), with 84 percent of expats rating this positively (vs. 55pc globally). Expats also find it easy to get a local mobile phone number (13th) and to pay without cash in Bahrain (15th). Over nine in ten (92pc) find the latter easy (vs. 78pc globally).

However, Bahrain ranks just 49th for unrestricted access to online services (e.g. social media). While 80pc of respondents say they are happy (the same as the global average), just around half the expats (51pc) are completely happy with this factor (vs. 58pc globally).

While this is a low ranking globally, Bahrain is still ahead of all other GCC States surveyed, which rank among the bottom 10 countries for this factor.” the report stated.