MORE than 70 per cent of the expatriates working in the private sector in Bahrain and registered with the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) earn less than BD200 a month, according to the latest data.
In its report for Q1 2022, the government agency said that the number of expats who received wages of less than BD200 per month was 310,525, which was 71pc of the total workforce.
Of the total number of expats in the private sector, 17,701 were females.
Meanwhile, only 2,280 Bahrainis received less than BD200 per month – which was 2pc of the 98,428 citizens employed in the private sector.
The new data also showed that the number of expats, including females, in the private sector registered with the SIO showed a positive growth rate of 4pc this quarter, for the first time.
A total of 435,443 expats, including 37,617 females, were registered with the organisation.
On the other hand, the number of non-Bahraini SIO contributors witnessed a decline since 2017 with 503,210 individuals, dropping to 497,366 in 2018, 477,741 in 2019, 421,068 in 2020 and 419,438 last year.
The rise in the number of expat SIO contributors were probably a result of the ongoing campaigns by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) against irregular workers.
The report also showed that the total number of people registered with the SIO in Q1 2022 reached 583,022 (including 435,443 expats) from both the private and public sectors – compared to 565,506 during Q1 2021.
The total number of Bahraini pensioners in both sectors reached 76,685 during this quarter, with the average monthly pension registered at BD789.
Meanwhile, the SIO report documented 214 worksite injuries (including 73 expats) in the public and private sector in Q1 2022, compared to 248 during the same quarter last year (2021).
The number of injury cases among citizens and expats (both sectors) continues to show a downward trend in the report with 1,037 cases in 2018, 1,018 in 2019, 870 in 2020 and 805 last year.
The leading cause of injuries in Q1 2022 in the private sector was “falling objects”, with 28 cases followed by 21 cases listed under “slip or fall”.
This was much lower compared with 66 cases under the same two categories in Q1 2021.
Other causes of injuries recorded this year in the private sector included collision with moving machinery (eight cases), falling from height (15), traffic accidents (seven), injuries when using hand tools (nine), machinery (10) and sharp objects (one).
Overall, 29 cases that included 24 among citizens were listed under work accident, road accidents (nine Bahrainis) and a case of a citizen under occupational disease.
The number of Bahrainis in GCC countries (public and private sectors) registered with the SIO reached 1,718 in Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE (1,062), Qatar (433), Kuwait (343) and Oman (106).
The GDN reported in March last year that a roadmap was unveiled by Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa to elongate the lifespan of Bahrain’s pension funds up to 2086. In 2019, Shaikh Salman told MPs in writing that studies indicated that the government pension funds will go bankrupt by 2028 and the private sector by 2034 with total deficits being BD14.4 billion in 2018.
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