Bahrain Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in bahrain, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Market Overview
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Bahrain is one of the most open economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with several free trade agreements, excellent infrastructure, and strong financial institutions. The Heritage Foundation ranked Bahrain as the world’s 55th freest economy in its 2025 Index of Economic Freedom, behind only Qatar and the UAE among GCC member states.  Bahrain’s overall score in the 2025 index rose by 2.2 points from 2024 to 65.6.

Bahrain is only one of two Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries to have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States.  In September 2023, the United States and Bahrain also signed the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement (C-SIPA), which outlines a strategic commitment to grow trade and investment and cooperate in areas like telecommunications and emerging technologies.

In most sectors, Bahrain permits 100 percent foreign-ownership of a business or branch office, and currently has no tax on personal income, wealth, capital gains, withholding, or death/inheritance.  In 2024, Bahrain implemented a Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (DMTT), which introduced a jurisdictional level top-up tax of a minimum of 15 percent, aimed at large multinational enterprises.  Bahrain has no restrictions on repatriation of capital, profits, or dividends.

Many U.S. businesses are active in major Bahraini economic sectors such as oil and gas, finance, engineering, and information and communications technology (ICT).

Bahrain’s real gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 2.6 percent in 2024. Positive real GDP growth rates in the non-oil sector increased by 3.8 percent.

Political Environment

Visit the State Department’s website for background on Bahrain’s political and economic environment.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

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