That dollar amount results from a -12.4% slowdown from 5 years earlier in 2019 when Bahraini exports totaled $14.2 billion.
Year over year, revenue collected for Bahrain’s exports plummeted by -44.2% compared to $22.3 billion during 2022.
Bahrain’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 72.3% of products exported from Bahrain was bought by importers in: Saudi Arabia (23.5% of the Bahraini total), United Arab Emirates (14.3%), United States of America (8.4%), Netherlands (4.4%), Egypt (3.7%), India (3.1%), Oman (3.1%), Türkiye (3%), Kuwait (2.5%), Algeria (2.4%), Italy (2.1%) and South Korea (1.9%).
From a continental perspective, 61.9% of Bahrain’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 14.7% was sold to importers in Europe. Bahrain shipped another 11.0% worth of goods to buyers in Africa.
Smaller percentages went to customers in North America (9.6%), Latin America (1.6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (1.1%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
Given Bahrain’s population of 1.577 million people, its total $12.4 billion in exports for 2023 translates to about $7,900 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That dollar metric lags the average $14,400 per capita one year earlier for 2022.
Bahrain’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Bahraini global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Bahrain.
- Aluminum: US$4.8 billion (38.3% of total exports)
- Ores, slag, ash: $1.8 billion (14.8%)
- Machinery including computers: $748.4 million (6%)
- Iron, steel: $644.9 million (5.2%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $504.7 million (4.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $482.8 million (3.9%)
- Gems, precious metals: $410.8 million (3.3%)
- Vehicles: $397.8 million (3.2%)
- Fertilizers: $290.5 million (2.3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $221.3 million (1.8%)
Bahrain’s top 10 export product categories generated 83% of the overall value of total Bahraini shipments.
Vehicles represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 43.7% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was gems and precious metals which rose 15.7% led by jewelry.
Bahrain’s shipments of articles of iron or steel posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 13.5%.
The leading decliner among Bahrain’s top 10 export categories was fertilizers which fell -32% year over year.
At the more detailed 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Bahrain’s most valuable exports were: unwrought aluminum (26.8% of the Bahraini total), iron ores and concentrates (14.8%), aluminum wire (5.6%), cheese and curd (3.5%), miscellaneous iron or steel structures (3.3%), aluminum plates, sheets and strips (3%), jewelry (2.4%), semi-finished products made from iron or non-alloy steel (also 2.4%), nitrogenous fertilizers (2.3%) and turbo-jets (2.2%).
Products Generating Bahrain’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Bahraini product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Aluminum: US$4.6 billion (Down by -31% since 2022)
- Iron, steel: $427.8 million (Down by -1.4%)
- Fertilizers: $286.8 million (Down by -32.3%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $228.3 million (Down by -21.6%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $161.4 million (Up by 119.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $113.2 million (Up by 128.7%)
- Organic chemicals: $104.9 million (Up by 0.3%)
- Glass: $53.1 million (Down by -40.8%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $52.9 million (Down by -33%)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $26.3 million (Down by -11.7%)
Bahrain has positive net exports in the international trade of aluminum-related materials and goods. In turn, these cashflows indicate Bahrain’s strong competitive advantages under the aluminum product category.
Products Causing Bahrain’s Largest Trade Deficits
Bahrain incurred an overall -US$2.9 billion trade deficit for 2023, reversing $6.7 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Bahrain that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Bahrain’s goods trail Bahraini importer spending on foreign products.
- Inorganic chemicals: -US$1.3 billion (Down by -3.8% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.1 billion (Up by 9.4%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1 billion (Up by 12.7%)
- Vehicles: -$837.2 million (Up by 9.5%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$493.7 million (Reversing a $6.5 million surplus)
- Gems, precious metals: -$465.3 million (Up by 55.6%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$424.3 million (Up by 11.9%)
- Meat: -$256.7 million (Down by -8%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$187 million (Up by 1.7%)
- Fruits, nuts: -$186.7 million (Down by -1.1%)
Bahrain has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the inorganic chemicals product category.
Bahraini Export Companies
Two Bahraini regional banks rank among Forbes Global 2000 corporations, namely Ahli United Bank and Arab Banking.
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Bahrain. Selected examples are shown below:
- Al Baraka Banking Group (investment banking)
- Aluminium Bahrain (aluminum and related products)
- Bahrain Petroleum Company (oil, gas)
- Banagas (natural gas)
- DHL International Aviation ME (cargo transportation)
- Fakhro Group (industrial conglomerate)
- Nass Corporation B.S.C. (construction materials)
- Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo (travel, shipping, technology conglomerate)
In macroeconomic terms, Bahrain’s total exported goods represent an estimated 12.4% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($100.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 12.4% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to the estimated 24.8% for 2022. Those percentages indicate a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Bahrain’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Bahrain’s unemployment rate averaged 6.3% for 2023, up from an average 5.4% in 2022 according to International Monetary Fund metrics.
Bahrain’s capital city is Manama, a name meaning “place of rest” or “place of dreams” in Arabic.
See also Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Exports, Jordan’s Top 10 Exports, UAE’s Top 10 Exports and Top Aluminum Exporters by Country Plus Average Unit Prices
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Middle East: Bahrain. Accessed on November 1, 2024
FlagPictures.org, Flag of Bahrain. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 1, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 1, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Wikipedia, Bahrain. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Bahrain. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on November 1, 2024