The Ministry of Finance and National Economy released on its website www.mofne.gov.bh today the Bahrain Economic Quarterly Report for the second quarter of 2023.

According to preliminary data released by the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA), the Kingdom of Bahrain recorded a 2.0% year on year (YoY) real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of 2023.

This growth was supported by a 2.0% increase in the non-oil sector and a 2.2% increase in the oil sector, the report said.

The report shed light on the role of non-oil sectors in supporting economic growth in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The continued growth and diversification of the economy brought the real GDP contribution of the non-oil sector to 82.9% in Q2 2023, according to the report.

Transport and telecommunications was the fastest growing sector at 13.3% in reflection to increased cross-border mobility. Within the sector, container vessel traffic grew by 52.4% YoY, Bahrain International Airport recorded a 20.2% YoY increase in the total number of passengers, and telecommunications saw a 12.8% YoY increase in mobile subscribers.

The Hotels and restaurants sector grew by 9.6%, as numbers of four and five star hotel guests increased by 29.3%; boosting occupancy rates by 8%.

The real estate and business activities sector recorded a 4.9%, supported by a significant increase in the value of real estate trading at 19.0% YoY.

The contribution of the financial corporations sector to the GDP reached 17.3%, while achieving a YoY growth of 4.7%. The indicators of the see total value of Electronic Funds Transfer System (Fawri+, Fawri and Fawateer) increased by 12.4% YoY.

The Trade sector had a YoY real-term growth of 4.7% in Q2 2023. Within the sector, total mall footfall increased by 20.7% and the value of POS and e-commerce transactions increased by 5.2%.

The manufacturing sector experienced a slight decrease of 0.9% during Q2 2023, affected by the drop in global aluminium prices.

The report stated that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow exceeded BHD1.3 billion during this quarter, bringing up the total investment balance to BHD 14.7Bn, growing by 13.9% YoY from BHD 13.0Bn in Q2 2022. The financial and insurance services posted the highest increase in FDI inflows at BHD 982.9 million, while the real estate activities sector recorded BHD129.2m.

Source: Bahrain News Agency