Demographics of Bahrain

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Bahrain, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Bahrain, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of permanent inhabitants in thousands.

Most of the population of Bahrain is concentrated in the two principal cities, Manama and Al Muharraq. According to the 2010 census 70.2% of the population, including non-nationals, are Muslim and over 99% of Bahraini population are Muslim.^[1]

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Bahrain (2010)[2]
Ethnic groups
Bahraini			46%
Asian			45.5%
other Arabs			4.7%
African			1.6%
European			1%
Other (Americans and GCC nationals			1.2%

Regarding the ethnicity of Bahrainis, a Financial Times article published on 31 May 1983 found that "Bahrain is a polyglot state, both religiously and racially. Discounting temporary immigrants of the past ten years, there are at least eight or nine communities on the island". These may be classified as:

Community	Description
Afro-Arabs	Descendants of Africans, primarily from East Africa and of mostly Sunni faith
Ajam of Bahrain	Persians of Shia faith, a minority are from the Bahai faith.
Baharna	Putative indigenous inhabitants of Bahrain, however this is disputed between scholars. The overwhelming majority are Shia Arabs.
Banyan (Bania)	Indians who traded with Bahrain and settled before the age of oil (formerly known as the Hunood or Banyan, Arabic: البونيان‎‎), of mostly Hindu faith
Bahraini Jews	Jews have inhabited Bahrain for centuries. Most native Bahraini Jews are of Mesopotamian and Persian descent.
Hola	Sunni Arabs from Persia
Tribal	Urbanized Sunni Bahrainis of Bedouin ancestry, such as the Utoob, Dawasir etc.

Non-nationals make up more than half of the population of Bahrain, with immigrants making up about 55% of the overall population.^[3] Of those, the vast majority come from South and Southeast Asia: according to various media reports and government statistics dated between 2005-2009 roughly 290,000 Indians,^[4] 125,000 Bangladeshis,^[5] 45,000 Pakistanis,^[6] 45,000 Filipinos,^[7] and 8,000 Indonesians.^[8]

[1]	Bahraini	Other Arabs	African	American	Asian	European	TOTAL
Population	568,399	66,903	19,548	4,623	563,335	11,763	1,234,571
Percentage	46.0%	5.4%	1.6%	0.4%	45.6%	1.0%	100%

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1950	116,000	—
1960	162,000	+39.7%
1970	212,000	+30.9%
1980	358,000	+68.9%
1990	493,000	+37.7%
2000	638,000	+29.4%
2010	1,262,000	+97.8%
2020	1,885,000	+49.4%
Source:[9]

Population census^[10]

Population of Bahrain according to nationality 1941-2010

census year	Bahraini		non-Bahraini		Total population
	Number	%	Number	%	Number
1941	74,040	82.3	15,930	17.7	89,970
1950	91,179	83.2	18,471	16.8	109,650
1959	118,734	83.0	24,401	17.0	143,135
1965	143,814	78.9	38,389	21.1	182,203
1971	178,193	82.5	37,885	17.5	216,078
1981	238,420	68.0	112,378	32.0	350,798
1991	323,305	63.6	184,732	36.4	508,037
2001	405,667	62.4	244,937	37.6	650,604
2010	568,399	46.0	666,172	54.0	1,234,571

Population estimates on July 1^[11]

	Bahraini	Non-Bahraini	Total	% Non-Bahraini
2001	409,619	251,698	661,317	38.1%
2002	427,246	283,307	710,554	39.9%
2003	445,634	318,888	764,519	41.7%
2004	464,808	358,936	823,744	43.6%
2005	484,810	404,013	888,824	45.5%
2006	505,673	454,752	960,425	47.3%
2007	527,433	511,864	1,039,297	49.3%
2008	541,587	561,909	1,103,496	50.9%
2009	558,011	620,404	1,178,415	52.6%

Vital statistics

UN estimates ^[12]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	6 000	3 000	3 000	45.0	21.6	23.4	6.97	183
1955-1960	7 000	3 000	4 000	45.7	17.7	27.9	6.97	156
1960-1965	8 000	2 000	6 000	45.7	12.6	33.2	7.18	112
1965-1970	8 000	2 000	7 000	41.6	8.7	32.9	6.97	74
1970-1975	8 000	2 000	7 000	35.2	6.5	28.6	5.95	49
1975-1980	10 000	2 000	9 000	33.0	4.8	28.1	5.23	33
1980-1985	13 000	2 000	11 000	32.9	4.1	28.8	4.63	22
1985-1990	14 000	2 000	13 000	31.3	3.6	27.7	4.08	16
1990-1995	14 000	2 000	12 000	26.3	3.3	23.1	3.35	14
1995-2000	14 000	2 000	12 000	23.1	3.2	19.9	2.89	11
2000-2005	14 000	2 000	12 000	21.1	3.0	18.1	2.62	9
2005-2010	21 000	3 000	18 000	20.7	2.8	18.0	2.63	7
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Registered data^[13][14][15]

Birth registration of Bahrain is available from 1976, death registration started in 1990. Between 1976 and 2011 the number of baby births roughly doubled but the birth rate of babies decreased from 32 to 13 per 1,000. The death rate of Bahrain (1.9 per 1,000 human beings in 2011) is among the lowest in the world.

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total Fertility Rate per woman
1976	282	8 984			31.8
1977	302	9 058			30.0
1978	322	9 398			29.2
1979	341	9 664			28.3
1980	358	10 140			28.3
1981	372	10 300			27.7
1982	384	11 037			28.8
1983	394	11 431			29.0
1984	405	11 519			28.5
1985	417	12 314			29.5
1986	431	12 893			29.9
1987	446	12 699			28.5
1988	462	12 555			27.2
1989	478	13 611			28.5
1990	493	13 370	1 552	11 818	27.1	3.1	24.0
1991	507	13 229	1 744	11 485	26.1	3.4	22.7
1992	520	13 874	1 760	12 114	26.7	3.4	23.3
1993	532	14 191	1 714	12 477	26.7	3.2	23.5
1994	545	13 766	1 695	12 071	25.2	3.1	22.1
1995	559	13 481	1 910	11 571	24.1	3.4	20.7
1996	575	13 123	1 780	11 343	22.8	3.1	19.7
1997	593	13 382	1 822	11 560	22.6	3.1	19.5
1998	611	13 381	1 997	11 384	21.9	3.3	18.6
1999	627	14 280	1 920	12 360	22.8	3.1	19.7
2000	638	13 947	2 045	11 902	21.9	3.2	18.7
2001	643	13 468	1 979	11 489	21.0	3.1	17.9
2002	642	13 576	2 035	11 541	21.1	3.2	17.9
2003	647	14 560	2 114	12 446	22.5	3.3	19.2
2004	672	14 968	2 215	12 753	22.3	3.3	19.0
2005	725	15 198	2 222	12 976	21.0	3.1	17.9
2006	811	15 053	2 317	12 736	18.6	2.9	15.7
2007	926	16 062	2 270	13 792	17.4	2.5	14.9
2008	1 052	17 022	2 390	14 632	16.2	2.3	13.9
2009	1 170	17 841	2 387	15 454	15.1	2.0	13.1	1,951
2010	1 262	18 150	2 401	15 749	14.8	2.0	12.8	1,877
2011	1 324	17 573	2 528	15 045	14.7	2.1	12.6	1,967
2012		19 119	2 613	16 506	15.5	2.1	13.4	2,134
2013			2 588			2.1
2014		20 931			15.9

Structure of the population ^[16]

Structure of the population (01.07.2011) (Estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	741 483	453 537	1 195 020	100
0-4	46 681	44 877	91 558	7,66
5-9	42 537	40 692	83 229	6,96
10-14	38 672	36 578	75 250	6,30
15-19	37 759	34 936	72 695	6,08
20-24	63 936	40 852	104 788	8,77
25-29	117 047	50 654	167 701	14,03
30-34	103 644	47 484	151 128	12,65
35-39	83 978	39 709	123 687	10,35
40-44	68 838	33 252	102 090	8,54
45-49	51 082	29 088	80 170	6,71
50-54	39 057	21 533	60 590	5,07
55-59	24 174	13 286	37 460	3,13
60-64	10 797	7 110	17 907	1,50
65-69	5 176	4 822	9 998	0,84
70-74	3 736	3 922	7 658	0,64
75-79	2 180	2 399	4 579	0,38
80-84	1 269	1 396	2 665	0,22
85+	920	947	1 867	0,16

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	127 890	122 147	250 037	20,92
15-64	600 312	317 904	918 216	76,84
65+	13 281	13 486	26 767	2,24

Religions

[1]	Men	Women	TOTAL	Bahraini	Non-Bahraini
Muslims	511,135	355,753	866,888	567,229	299,659
Others	257,279	110,414	367,683	1,170	366,513
Total	768,414	466,157	1,234,571	568,399	666,172
Muslim %			70.2%	99.8%	45.0%

Religions of Bahrain (2010 ) [2]
Religions			percent
Islam			70.3%
Christian			14.5%
Hindu			9.8%
Buddist			2.5%
Jewish			0.6%
Folk religion			1%
Unaffiliated			1.9%
Other			0.2%

Islam is the official religion. The citizen population is 99.8% Muslim, although the Muslim proportion falls to 70.2% when the non-national population is included.^[1] Current census data doesn't differentiate between the other religions in Bahrain, but there are about 1,000^[17] Christian citizens and about 40^[18] Jewish citizens.

Muslims belong to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of Islam. There are no official figures, but the Shi'a constitute 46-60% of the Bahraini Muslim population.^{[19][20](p13)} Foreigners, overwhelmingly from South Asia and other Arab countries, constituted 54% of the population in 2010.^[1] Of these, 45% are Muslim and 55% are non-Muslim,^[1] including Christians (primarily: Catholic, Protestant, Syrian Orthodox, and Mar Thoma from South India), Hindus, Bahá'ís, Buddhists, and Sikhs.^[21]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[22]

Median age

Population pyramid of Bahrain in 2012.

Total: 31.1 years

Male: 32.5 years

Female: 28.3 years (2012 est.)

Urbanization

Urban population: 89% of total population (2010)

Rate of urbanization: 7.8% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.75 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female

Total population: 1.54 male(s)/female (2012 est.)

Maternal mortality

20 deaths/100,000 live births (2010 est.).

county comparison to the world: 139

Health expenditure

14.5% of total GDP (2009)

country comparison to the world: 49

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)

county comparison to the world: 95

People with HIV/AIDS: Fewer than 600 (2007 est.)

county comparison to the world: 148

Deaths: Fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

county comparison to the world: 107

Languages

Arabic

English

Balochi

Persian

Kurdish

Urdu

Malayalam

Hindi

Sinhalese

Tamil

Punjabi

Bangla

Literacy and education

Bahrain has traditionally boasted an advanced educational system. Schooling and related costs are entirely paid for by the government, and, although not compulsory, primary and secondary attendance rates are high. Bahrain also encourages institutions of higher learning, drawing on expatriate talent and the increasing pool of Bahrainis returning from abroad with advanced degrees. University of Bahrain was established in 1986 for standard undergraduate and graduate study, and the College of Health Sciences—operating under the direction of the Ministry of Health—trains physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and paramedics.

Overall literacy is 94.6% (96.1% for men and 91.6% for women) (2010 census).

Education expenditure

2.9% of total GDP (2008)

country comparison to the world: 135

References

Notes

1. "General Tables". Bahraini Census 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
2. "Middle East ::BAHRAIN". CIA The World Factbook.
3. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ba.html
4. "Indian Community". Indian Embassy. 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
5. "New Bahrain rule may end labour exploitation", The Daily Star, 2009-05-09, retrieved 2009-05-14
6. Year Book, Overseas Pakistani Foundation, 2004–2005, retrieved 2009-05-12
7. "Bahrain looking to hire more Filipino workers", Manila Times, 5 Feb 2009, retrieved 6 March 2012
8. "Indonesians encouraged", Gulf Daily News, 2007-08-07, retrieved 2009-05-12
9. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
11. Sources: Bahrain Central Informatics Organization, population estimate July 1 of each year, and for 2008, 2009
12. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
13. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
14. Ministry of Health Statistics
15. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/vitstats/serATab3.pdf
16. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
17. "The Catholic Church in Bahrain". Catholic Church in Bahrain. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
18. "Low profile but welcome: a Jewish outpost in the Gulf". Independent. 2 Nov 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
19. "UK FCO". UK FCO. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
20. "Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry". BICI. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
21. "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Dept. 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
22. Bahrain at the World Factbook

Sources

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2006 edition".

• 2003 U.S. Department of State website