More than 470,000 expatriate workers were registered in Bahrain’s private sector by the end of the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest figures from the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO).
According to the Labour Market review of the Bahrain Economic Quarterly Report (Q3 2025), this represents a year-on-year increase of three per cent.
The total number of Bahrainis registered in the public and private sectors increased by 2.2pc during the same period, reaching 157,213 employees.
However, while the average wage of Bahrainis increased by around 2.6pc, the wage of non-Bahrainis declined by the same percentage.
According to SIO data, the number of Bahraini employees per sector has increased consistently since 2023.
By the fourth quarter of 2023, there were around 151,700 Bahrainis employed – 50,200 in the public sector and 101,500 in the private.
This increased to 154,900 Bahrainis employed by the fourth quarter of 2024, including around 50,900 in the public sector and 104,000 in the private.
As for the latest number, from the third quarter of 2025, the total number of citizens registered with SIO reached 157,213 – with the private sector employing 105,503 citizens, representing 67.1pc of all registered Bahrainis, while the total number employed in the public sector reached 51,710.
The figures from the fourth quarter have not been disclosed yet.
Meanwhile, Bahraini women accounted for 42.5pc of the total number of registered Bahraini employees – reaching 66,769 individuals.
The total number of non-Bahrainis registered in the private sector increased by 3pc to 473,323 workers in the third quarter of 2025.
The report also mentioned the average monthly wage for Bahrainis across both sectors. In the private sector, the average monthly wage stood at BD892 while it was BD973 in the public sector.
For non-Bahrainis, the average monthly wage decreased by 2.6pc to BD267.
The average monthly wage is calculated as total income divided by the number of people.
As for the monthly median wage, it remained unchanged for Bahrainis in the private sector at BD500, while the median wage in the public sector fell by 0.9pc to BD807.
In terms of gender breakdown, the monthly median wages in the public sector for Bahraini women stood at around BD818, while it was around BD787 for men.
As for the private sector, the monthly median wages were very similar – for Bahraini women, the median wage was BD500 compared to BD508 for men.
The GDN reported on Thursday that a new survey that aims to collect key data of Bahrain’s labour market was launched by the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA).
The 2026 Labour Force Survey will be conducted throughout this year until December, targeting a random sample of more than 8,000 households located across the four governorates.
The survey will begin by contacting households selected randomly through a dedicated call centre via a unified national number for statistical surveys (17878070).
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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