POSITIVE sentiment among Bahrain’s business community is continuing to grow, according to new data.
The Business Confidence Index in Bahrain continued its upward trend in the third quarter of 2026, reaching 85.39 points, compared with 85.32 points in the second quarter and 83.08 points in the first quarter.
According to the latest data published on the Bahrain Open Data Portal, as announced by the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA), the index increased by 0.07 points during the third quarter, following a 2.24-point rise in the second quarter compared with the first.
The index has thus gained around 2.31 points since the beginning of the year, reaching its highest level during the first three quarters of 2026.
The continued improvement reflects growing positive sentiment among Bahrain’s business community towards economic activity and provides a periodic indicator of establishments’ expectations regarding business performance and economic conditions in the coming period, including activity, demand, investment and expansion.
The rise in business confidence also reinforces positive indicators concerning the kingdom’s business environment and supports an optimistic outlook for the private sector’s ability to sustain activity and contribute to economic growth and diversification.
Meanwhile, the total stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bahrain reached around BD17.637 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
GCC investments continued to account for the largest share, with the cumulative stock of investments from GCC countries reaching around BD12.62bn.
Kuwait topped the list of investing countries with BD6.17bn, followed by Saudi Arabia with around BD4.05bn and the UAE with BD1.68bn. Libya ranked fourth with BD1.32bn.
India ranked fifth with BD757.4 million, followed by the Cayman Islands with BD564.9m, Qatar with BD439.2m, Japan with BD329.7m, Türkiye with BD328.9m, and Oman with BD274.7m.
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