Bahrain’s economy grew by 2.5% in real terms year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023, according to provisional data from the Information and Electronic Government Agency. This was primarily due to the non-oil sector growing by 4.5% year-on-year in the quarter. .
The report highlighted the role of the non-oil sector in driving the Kingdom’s economic growth, highlighting that the non-oil sector accounted for 83.6% of real GDP in the third quarter of 2023.
From January to October this year, the average consumer price index (inflation rate) remained stable at 0.2%.
The Hotels and Restaurants sector saw a 2 percentage point increase in hotel occupancy at 4-star and 5-star hotels to 49 percent, and a 17.9 percent increase in total tourist nights to 4.8 million nights. , recorded the highest year-over-year growth rate of 9.4 percent in the quarter. night.
The financial corporate sector increased by 8.4% compared to the previous year. For four consecutive quarters, the sector had the highest contribution to total real GDP among non-oil sectors, contributing 18.1% of total real GDP.
A number of financial indicators showed strong performance, including a 15.6% year-on-year increase in the value of electronic funds transfer systems (Fawri+, Fawri, and Fawateer) to reach BD7.2 billion.
The trade sector grew 5.9% year over year as mall foot traffic increased by 5.6% and POS and e-commerce transaction value increased by 5.1%.
The real estate and business activities sector grew 2.8% y-o-y, supported by strong real estate activity up 5.4% y-o-y, as real estate transaction value increased 7.1% y-o-y to reach BD272 million. .
According to the report, total foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the third quarter of 2023 exceeded BD 1.2 billion, with the FDI stock reaching BD 15.9 billion, an increase of 19.4% year-on-year.
Financial and insurance services recorded the highest increase in FDI flows of BD 1,092.1 million during the quarter, followed by manufacturing with flows of BD 53.2 million.
Additionally, the report highlighted Saudi performance in the Global Competitiveness Report and Index, noting that Bahrain’s position improved by five places to rank 44th out of 134 countries in the 2023 Global Talent Competitiveness Index published by INSEAD. pointed out.
In the Basel AML Index 2023 published by the Basel Governance Institute, Bahrain improved its ranking by 10 places and maintained its number one position in the GCC.
Bahrain was ranked fourth in the world in the 2023 Islamic Finance Development Report and ranked among the top 10 countries in the world with a score of 96.5 out of 100 in the 2023 ICT Development Index published by the International Telecommunication Union.
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