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 are Muslim, with Christians being the second largest religious group, forming 14.5% of the population, Hindus making up 9.8%, and Buddhists making 2.5%. The 4 major religions in Bahrain are Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism with numerous other faiths including Bahā'i, Sikhs, and Druze.[1]

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Bahrain (2010)[2]
Ethnic groups
Bahraini			15%
Asian (mostly south)			73.5%
other Arabs			4.7%
African			1.6%
European			1%
Other (Americans and GCC nationals			1.2%

See also: Ethnic, cultural and religious groups of Bahrain

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. 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] 11,000 people from the United Kingdom live in Bahrain, 0.73% of its total population.[9]

[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%
Source:[10]

Population census[11]

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[12]

	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%
2010	570,687	657,856	1,228,543	53.5%
2011	584,688	610,332	1,195,020	51.1%
2012	599,629	609,335	1,208,964	50.4%
2013	614,830	638,361	1,253,191	50.9%
2014	630,744	683,818	1,314,562	52.0%
2015	647,835	722,487	1,370,322	52.7%
2016	664,707	759,019	1,423,726	53.3%
2017	677,506	823,610	1,501,116	54.9%

Vital statistics

UN estimates [13]

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[14][15][16]

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	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total Fertility Rate per woman
1965		5,150
1966		4,860
1967		5,179
1968		5,274
1971		6,404
1972		7,274
1973		7,679
1974		7,612
1975		7,767
1976	282,000	8,984			31.8
1977	302,000	9,058	872	8,186	30.0
1978	322,000	9,398	1,002	8,396	29.2
1979	341,000	9,664	1,037	8,627	28.3
1980	358,000	10,140	1,085	9,055	28.3
1981	372,000	10,300	1,065	9,235	27.7
1982	384,000	11,037	1,119	9,918	28.8
1983	394,000	11,431	1,064	10,367	29.0
1984	405,000	11,519	1,303	10,216	28.5
1985	417,000	12,314	1,212	11,102	29.5
1986	431,000	12,893	1,423	11,470	29.9
1987	446,000	12,699	1,584	11,115	28.5
1988	462,000	12,555	1,523	11,032	27.2
1989	478,000	13,611	1,551	12,060	28.5
1990	493,000	13,370	1,552	11,818	27.1	3.1	24.0
1991	507,000	13,229	1,744	11,485	26.1	3.4	22.7
1992	520,000	13,874	1,760	12,114	26.7	3.4	23.3
1993	532,000	14,191	1,714	12,477	26.7	3.2	23.5
1994	545,000	13,766	1,695	12,071	25.2	3.1	22.1
1995	559,000	13,481	1,910	11,571	24.1	3.4	20.7
1996	575,000	13,123	1,780	11,343	22.8	3.1	19.7
1997	593,000	13,382	1,822	11,560	22.6	3.1	19.5
1998	611,000	13,381	1,997	11,384	21.9	3.3	18.6
1999	627,000	14,280	1,920	12,360	22.8	3.1	19.7
2000	638,000	13,947	2,045	11,902	21.9	3.2	18.7
2001	643,000	13,468	1,979	11,489	21.0	3.1	17.9
2002	642,000	13,576	2,035	11,541	21.1	3.2	17.9
2003	647,000	14,560	2,114	12,446	22.5	3.3	19.2
2004	672,000	14,968	2,215	12,753	22.3	3.3	19.0
2005	725,000	15,198	2,222	12,976	21.0	3.1	17.9
2006	811,000	15,053	2,317	12,736	18.6	2.9	15.7
2007	926,000	16,062	2,270	13,792	17.4	2.5	14.9
2008	1,052,000	17,022	2,390	14,632	16.2	2.3	13.9
2009	1,170,000	17,841	2,387	15,454	15.1	2.0	13.1	1.951
2010	1,262,000	18,150	2,401	15,749	14.8	2.0	12.8	1.877
2011	1,324,000	17,573	2,528	15,045	14.7	2.1	12.6	1.967
2012		19,119	2,613	16,506	15.8	2.2	13.6	2.134
2013		19,995	2,588	17,407	16.0	2.1	13.9	2.157
2014		20,931	2,805	18,126	15.9	2.1	13.8	2.173
2015		20,983	2,787	18,196
2016		20,714	2,858	17,856	14.5	2.0	12.5
2017		20,581	2,902	17,679	13.7	1.9	11.8
2018		19,740	3,052	16,668	13.1	2.0	11.1

Structure of the population [17]

Structure of the population (2017) (Estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	951,312	549,804	1,501,116	100
0-4	55,654	53,438	109,092	7.27
5-9	50,901	48,741	99,642	6.63
10-14	44,789	43,138	87,927	5.86
15-19	40,082	36,910	76,992	5.13
20-24	65,637	43,542	109,179	7.27
25-29	148,268	61,221	209,489	13.96
30-34	156,455	59,541	215,996	14.39
35-39	118,758	50,858	169,616	11.30
40-44	86,853	41,047	127,900	8.52
45-49	65,842	32,110	97,952	6.53
50-54	46,027	27,542	73,569	4.90
55-59	33,189	20,929	54,118	3.61
60-64	18,604	12,885	31,489	2.10
65-69	9,750	7,127	16,877	1.12
70-74	4,633	4,288	8,921	0.59
75-79	3,064	3,244	6,308	0.42
80-84	1,524	1,773	3,297	0.22
85+	1,282	1,470	2,752	0.18

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	151,344	145,317	296,661	19.76
15-64	779,715	386,585	1,166,300	77.70
65+	20,253	17,902	38,155	2.54

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	43.0	1985–1990	71.8
1955–1960	48.5	1990–1995	72.9
1960–1965	55.3	1995–2000	73.9
1965–1970	61.1	2000–2005	74.9
1970–1975	65.4	2005–2010	75.7
1975–1980	68.3	2010–2015	76.4
1980–1985	70.5

Source: UN World Population Prospects[18]

Religions

See also: Freedom of religion in Bahrain and Islam in Bahrain

[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%
Buddhist			2.5%
Jewish			0.6%
Folk religion			1%
Unaffiliated			1.9%
Other			0.2%

Islam is the official religion forming 70.2% of the population.[1] Current census data does not differentiate between the other religions in Bahrain, but there are about 1,000[19] Christian citizens and about 40[20] Jewish citizens.

Muslims belong to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of Islam. There are no official figures, but the Shi'a constitute 75% of the Bahraini Muslim population.[21]^(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, Syriac Orthodox, and Mar Thoma from South India), Hindus, Bahá'ís, Buddhists, and Sikhs.[22]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[23]

Median age

Population pyramid of Bahrain in 2012.

Total: 32.3 years

Male: 33.8 years

Female: 29.5 years (2017 est.)

Urbanization

Urban population: 88.9% of total population (2017)

Rate of urbanization: 1.77% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.3 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.88 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1.81 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female

Total population: 1.54 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

Maternal mortality

15 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.).

county comparison to the world: 135

Health expenditure

5% of total GDP (2014)

country comparison to the world: 142

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (2016 est.)

People with HIV/AIDS: Fewer than 500 (2016 est.)

Deaths: Fewer than 100 (2016 est.)

Languages

Arabic

English

Persian

Kurdish

Malayalam

Urdu

Balochi

Hindi

Sinhalese

Tamil

Punjabi

Bengali

Armenian

Philippines

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 95.7% (96.9% for men and 93.5% for women) (2015 estimate).

Education expenditure

2.6% of total GDP (2012)

country comparison to the world: 153

See also

• Bahranis

References

Notes

1. "General Tables". Bahraini Census 2010. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. 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. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. 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. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm
10. "World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision". Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
12. Sources: Bahrain Central Informatics Organization, population estimate July 1 of each year Archived 2008-10-30 at the Wayback Machine, and for 2008, 2009 Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
13. "World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision". Archived from the original on 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2013-05-11.
14. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
15. Archived 2013-05-03 at the Wayback Machine Ministry of Health Statistics
16. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/vitstats/serATab3.pdf
17. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
18. "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". Archived from the original on 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
19. "The Catholic Church in Bahrain". Catholic Church in Bahrain. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
20. "Low profile but welcome: a Jewish outpost in the Gulf". Independent. 2 Nov 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
21. "Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry" (PDF). Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
22. "International Religious Freedom Report". US State Dept. 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
23. 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