BH

World Competitiveness
Center

IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022, Digital 2022, Talent 2022: summaries

COUNTRY
BAHRAIN
PROFILE
WORLD COMPETITIVENESS
RANKING 2022
All data are available from the
World Competitiveness Online.

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1
 Bahrain
Competitiveness Trends – Overall

OVERALL PERFORMANCE (63 countries) BASIC FACTS Rank

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Capital Manama
2021
Land area (square km '000) 1
2021
Exchange Rate (per $) 0.376
30 Population - market size (millions) 1.50
2021
59
2021
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (US$ billions) 39.1 57
2021
CHALLENGES IN 2022 GDP (PPP) per capita (US$) 52,774 21
• Achieve fiscal targets amid global fluctuations in oil prices. 2021
Real GDP growth (%) 2.2 57
• Achieve a post-COVID economic growth driven by the 2021
Economic Recovery Plan. Consumer price inflation (%) -0.61 01
• Implementation of renewable energy and carbon emission 2021
Unemployment rate (%) 5.90 32
reduction initiatives to achieve target net zero emissions 2021
target by 2060. Labor force (millions) 0.73 59
• Continue driving business climate reforms to attract foreign Current account balance (% of GDP) 6.66
2021
13
direct investments and maintain a conducive business 2020
environment. Direct investment stocks inward ($bn) 31.7 55
2020
Direct investment flows inward (% of GDP) 2.97 15

PROVIDED BY: Ministry of Finance and National Economy

COMPETITIVENESS LANDSCAPE
Economic Performance Government Efficiency Business Efficiency Infrastructure
Technological Infrastructure
International Investment

Health and Environment

Productivity & Efficiency
Institutional Framework

Scientific Infrastructure
Management Practices
Business Legislation

Attitudes and Values

Societal Framework

Basic Infrastructure
International Trade
Domestic Economy

Public Finance

Labor Market
Employment

Tax Policy

Education
Finance
Prices

1 3
11 12
15
21 20 21
29
35 35 38 35
39 41 39

56 55 54
59

PEER GROUPS RANKINGS

EUROPE - MIDDLE EAST - AFRICA (40 countries) POPULATIONS < 20 MILLION (36 countries)

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

22 20

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Bahrain
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Competitiveness Evolution & Attractiveness Indicators
--- --- --- --- --- ---

COMPETITIVENESS EVOLUTION
KEY ATTRACTIVENESS INDICATORS
The
Fromcriteria below
a list of highlight respondents
15 indicators, the 15 biggestofImprovements and the Survey
the Executive Opinion 15 biggest
wereDeclines
asked toinselect
the overall
5 thatperformance of the
they perceived as
economy. They are determined
the key attractiveness factors ofbytheir
the economy.
largest percentage
The chartchanges
shows thein percentage
the value of of
each criterionper
responses from one yearbook
indicator to
from the
the next.number of responses to the lowest.
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WCY WCY WCY WCY

Business-friendly environment 58.2%
IMPROVEMENTS 2021 2022 DECLINES 2021 2022
Skilled workforce 49.3%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Reliable infrastructure 47.8%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Open and positive attitudes 44.8%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Competency of government 44.8%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Cost competitiveness 37.3%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
High educational level 34.3%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Access to financing 29.9%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Policy stability & predictability 28.4%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Quality of corporate governance 26.9%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Effective legal environment 25.4%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Competitive tax regime 23.9%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Dynamism of the economy 20.9%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Effective labor relations 7.5%
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Strong R&D culture 7.5%
--- --- --- --- --- ---

--- --- --- --- --- ---

KEY ATTRACTIVENESS INDICATORS

From a list of 15 indicators, respondents of the Executive Opinion Survey were asked to select 5 that they perceived as
the key attractiveness factors of their economy. The chart shows the percentage of responses per indicator from the
highest number of responses to the lowest.

Business-friendly environment 58.2%

Skilled workforce 49.3%
Reliable infrastructure 47.8%
Open and positive attitudes 44.8%
Competency of government 44.8%
Cost competitiveness 37.3%
High educational level 34.3%
Access to financing 29.9%
Policy stability & predictability 28.4%
Quality of corporate governance 26.9%
Effective legal environment 25.4%
Competitive tax regime 23.9%
Dynamism of the economy 20.9%
Effective labor relations 7.5%
Strong R&D culture 7.5%

3
WORLD COMPETITIVENESS
DIGITAL RANKING 2022

All data are available from the

World Competitiveness Online.

Visit our eShop

4
DIGITAL TRENDS - OVERALL

BAHRAIN
OVERALL PERFORMANCE (63 countries)
Overall Factors
Alpha AlphaLabel Beta BetaLabel Gamma GammaLabelSub-Factors
1 2 2 2 2 2 2
4 4 4 2 2
6.5 4 4 2 2
8.5 4 344 2 2 13 48 31
10.5 4 4 2 2

Talent Training & education Scientific concentration

Knowledge

32 23 32 34 17

Regulatory framework Capital Technological framework

Technology

36 23 29 46
The direction of the triangle indicates the
performance change from the last year: Adaptive attitudes Business agility IT integration
 improved or stable Future readiness
declined

OVERALL & FACTORS - 5 years 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

OVERALL - - - - 32

Knowledge - - - - 34

Technology - - - - 23

Future readiness - - - - 36

COMPETITIVENESS & DIGITAL RANKINGS

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Digital
30
Competitiveness

N.B. This graph provides only a 32

comparison of the country’s performance
in the two rankings.

PEER GROUPS RANKINGS

EUROPE - MIDDLE EAST - AFRICA (40 countries) POPULATIONS < 20 MILLION (36 countries)

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

21 20

5
 FACTORS BREAKDOWN - STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

u Overall Top
u Overall top strengths

Overall Top
w Overall
Strengths

top weaknesses
BAHRAIN
w Weaknesses

KNOWLEDGE

Sub-Factors 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Talent - - - - 13
Training & education - - - - 48
Scientific concentration - - - - 31

Talent Rank Training & education Rank Scientific concentration Rank

Educational assessment PISA - Math - Employee training 25 Total expenditure on R&D (%) -
International experience 07 w Total public expenditure on education 61 Total R&D personnel per capita -
Foreign highly-skilled personnel 08 Higher education achievement 34 Female researchers 19
Management of cities 17 Pupil-teacher ratio (tertiary education) 49 R&D productivity by publication -
Digital/Technological skills 13 w Graduates in Sciences 58 Scientific and technical employment -
Net flow of international students 29 u Women with degrees 03 High-tech patent grants 41
Robots in Education and R&D -

TECHNOLOGY

Sub-Factors 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Regulatory framework - - - - 32
Capital - - - - 34
Technological framework - - - - 17

Regulatory framework Rank Capital Rank Technological framework Rank

Starting a business 33 IT & media stock market capitalization 26 Communications technology 14

Enforcing contracts 42 Funding for technological development 28 u Mobile Broadband subscribers 04
u Immigration laws 04 Banking and financial services 18 Wireless broadband 10
Development & application of tech. 15 w Country credit rating 59 u Internet users 04
Scientific research legislation 33 Venture capital 38 Internet bandwidth speed 34
Intellectual property rights 33 Investment in Telecommunications 06 w High-tech exports (%) 58

FUTURE READINESS

Sub-Factors 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Adaptive attitudes - - - - 23
Business agility - - - - 29
IT integration - - - - 46

Adaptive attitudes Rank Business agility Rank IT integration Rank

E-Participation 40 Opportunities and threats 34 E-Government 34

Internet retailing 41 World robots distribution - Public-private partnerships 17
u Tablet possession 01 Agility of companies 30 Cyber security 11
Smartphone possession 24 Use of big data and analytics 32 Software piracy 46
Attitudes toward globalization 13 Knowledge transfer 25 Government cyber security capacity 51
Entrepreneurial fear of failure - w Privacy protection by law content 60

6
WORLD TALENT
RANKING 2022
All data are available from the
World Competitiveness Online.

Visit our eShop

7
Talent Ranking 2022

BAHRAIN
OVERALL PERFORMANCE (63 countries)
The direction of the triangle indicates
Alpha the
AlphaLabel Beta BetaLabel Gamma GammaLabel
performance change from the last year: 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
1 2 2 2 2 2 2
 improved or stable
4
declined 4 4 2 2

48
Investment &
Development Overall
16
Investment &
35 16 Development
Appeal

Appeal Readiness
33
35

33
Readiness 48

INVESTMENT & DEVELOPMENT Value 2022 Rank

w Total public expenditure on education Percentage of GDP 2.6 % 61

Total public exp. on education per student Spending per enrolled pupil/student, all levels 2,960 US$ 43
Pupil-teacher ratio (primary education) Ratio of students to teaching staff 12.00 ratio 11
Pupil-teacher ratio (secondary education) Ratio of students to teaching staff 10.00 ratio 14
Apprenticeships are sufficiently implemented 5.26 Survey [0..10] 31
Employee training is a high priority in companies 6.32 Survey [0..10] 25
w Female labor force Percentage of total labor force 26.49 % 58
Health infrastructure meets the needs of society 7.79 Survey [0..10] 12

APPEAL Value 2022 Rank

Cost-of-living index Index of a basket of goods & services in the main city, including housing (New York City = 100) 78.00 index 33
Attracting and retaining talents is a priority in companies 6.79 Survey [0..10] 33
Worker motivation in companies is high 6.06 Survey [0..10] 28
Brain drain (well-educated and skilled people) does not hinder competitiveness in your economy 6.26 Survey [0..10] 14
Quality of life is high 8.06 Survey [0..10] 18
Foreign highly-skilled personnel are attracted to your country's business environment 7.37 Survey [0..10] 8
Remuneration in services professions Gross annual income including supplements such as bonuses, US$ 29,081 US$ 25
u Remuneration of management Total base salary plus bonuses and long-term incentives, US$ 291,693 US$ 5
u Collected personal income tax On profits, income and capital gains, as a percentage of GDP 0.00 % 1
Justice is fairly administered 7.82 Survey [0..10] 13
w Exposure to particle pollution Mean population exposure to PM2.5, Micrograms per cubic metre 58.66 micrograms 60

READINESS Value 2022 Rank

w Labor force growth Percentage change -4.40 % 62

u Skilled labor is readily available 6.56 Survey [0..10] 5
Finance skills are readily available 7.44 Survey [0..10] 7
u International experience of senior managers is generally significant 7.09 Survey [0..10] 7
u Competent senior managers are readily available 7.04 Survey [0..10] 4
Primary and secondary education meets the needs of a competitive economy 7.50 Survey [0..10] 17
w Graduates in Sciences % of graduates in ICT, Engineering, Math & Natural Sciences 15.49 % 58
University education meets the needs of a competitive economy 7.10 Survey [0..10] 25
Management education meets the needs of the business community 7.00 Survey [0..10] 19
Language skills are meeting the needs of enterprises 8.24 Survey [0..10] 11
Student mobility inbound Foreign tertiary-level students per 1000 inhabitants 4.21 number 23
Educational assessment - PISA PISA survey of 15-year olds - Average -
8
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