Demographics of Bahrain

thumb|300px|right|Demographics of Bahrain, Data of [[FAO, year 2005; Number of permanent inhabitants in thousands.]]

The demographics of the population of Bahrain includes population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Most of the population of Bahrain is concentrated in the two principal cities, Manama and Al Muharraq.

Population

Population census

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"

|+ Population of Bahrain according to nationality 1941-2024

! rowspan="2" | census year

! colspan="2" | Bahraini

! colspan="2" | non-Bahraini

! rowspan="2" | total population

! # !! %

|align=left|1941

|74,040 ||

|15,930 ||

|89,970

|align=left|1950

|91,179 ||

|18,471 ||

|109,650

|align=left|1959

|118,734 ||

|24,401 ||

|143,135

|align=left|1965

|143,814 ||

|38,389 ||

|182,203

|align=left|1971

|178,193 ||

|37,885 ||

|216,078

|align=left|1981

|238,420 ||

|112,378 ||

|350,798

|align=left|1991

|323,305 ||

|184,732 ||

|508,037

|align=left|2001

|405,667 ||

|244,937 ||

|650,604

|align=left|2010

|568,399 ||

|666,172 ||

|1,234,571

|align=left|2020

|712,362 ||

|789,273 ||

|1,501,635

| align="left" |2024

|739,736

|848,934

|1,588,670

Structure of the population

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 17.III.2020):

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan=2 width="80pt"|Age group

! rowspan=2 width="80pt"|Male

! rowspan=2 width="80pt"|Female

! colspan=2|Total

! width="80pt"|#

! width="80pt"|%

| Total

| align="right" | 942,895

| align="right" | 558,740

| align="right" | 1,501,635

| 0-4

| align="right" | 52,591

| align="right" | 51,012

| align="right" | 103,603

| 5-9

| align="right" | 53,578

| align="right" | 51,416

| align="right" | 104,994

| 10-14

| align="right" | 47,812

| align="right" | 45,864

| align="right" | 93,676

| 15-19

| align="right" | 41,062

| align="right" | 38,276

| align="right" | 79,338

| 20-24

| align="right" | 60,706

| align="right" | 40,725

| align="right" | 101,431

| 25-29

| align="right" | 101,401

| align="right" | 54,679

| align="right" | 156,080

| 30-34

| align="right" | 154,215

| align="right" | 57,757

| align="right" | 211,972

| 35-39

| align="right" | 134,083

| align="right" | 51,794

| align="right" | 185,877

| 40-44

| align="right" | 95,104

| align="right" | 44,385

| align="right" | 139,489

| 45-49

| align="right" | 70,467

| align="right" | 33,509

| align="right" | 103,976

| 50-54

| align="right" | 49,621

| align="right" | 27,786

| align="right" | 77,407

| 55-59

| align="right" | 34,498

| align="right" | 23,095

| align="right" | 57,593

| 60-64

| align="right" | 22,418

| align="right" | 16,353

| align="right" | 38,771

| 65-69

| align="right" | 12,499

| align="right" | 9,200

| align="right" | 16,877

| 70-74

| align="right" | 6,184

| align="right" | 5,177

| align="right" | 11,361

| 75-79

| align="right" | 3,216

| align="right" | 3,363

| align="right" | 6,579

| 80-84

| align="right" | 2,002

| align="right" | 2,452

| align="right" | 4,454

| 85+

| align="right" | 1,438

| align="right" | 1,897

| align="right" | 3,335

! width="50"|Age group

! width="80pt"|Male

! width="80"|Female

! colspan=2 width="80"|Total

| 0-14

| align="right" | 153,981

| align="right" | 148,292

| align="right" | 302,273

| 15-64

| align="right" | 763,575

| align="right" | 388,359

| align="right" | 1,151,934

| 65+

| align="right" | 25,339

| align="right" | 22,089

| align="right" | 47,428

Vital statistics

UN estimates

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"

! width="70pt"|Period

! width="70pt"|Live births per year

! width="70pt"|Deaths per year

! width="70pt"|Natural change per year

! width="70pt"|CBR*

! width="70pt"|CDR*

! width="70pt"|NC*

! width="70pt"|TFR*

! width="70pt"|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

|align="left" colspan="9" | * <small> 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)</small>

Registered data

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.

{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under sticky-header-multi" style="text-align:right;"

! width="70pt"|Average population

! width="70pt"|Live births

! width="70pt"|Deaths

! width="70pt"|Natural change

! width="70pt"|Crude birth rate (per 1000)

! width="70pt"|Crude death rate (per 1000)

! width="70pt"|Natural change (per 1000)

! width="70pt"|Crude migration rate (per 1000)

! width="70pt" |Total fertility rate

|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|| 2.9 ||27.1

| 62.81||

| 1978

| 322,000

|9,398|| 1,002 ||8,396

|29.2|| 3.1||26.1

| 36.04||

| 1979

| 341,000

|9,664|| 1,037||8,627

|28.3|| 3.0|| 25.3

| 30.42||

| 1980

| 358,000

|10,140|| 1,085 ||9,055

|28.3|| 3.0|| 25.3

| 22.19||

| 1981

| 372,000

|10,300|| 1,065 ||9,235

|27.7|| 2.9||24.8

| 13.35||

| 1982

| 384,000

|11,037|| 1,119 ||9,918

|28.8|| 2.9||25.9

| 5.60||

| 1983

| 394,000

|11,431|| 1,064 ||10,367

|29.0|| 2.7||26.3

| −0.93||

| 1984

| 405,000

|11,519|| 1,303 ||10,216

|28.5|| 3.2||25.3

| 1.94||

| 1985

| 417,000

|12,314|| 1,212 ||11,102

|29.5|| 2.9||26.6

| 2.15||

| 1986

| 431,000

|12,893|| 1,423 ||11,470

|29.9|| 3.3||26.6

| 5.87||

| 1987

| 446,000

|12,699|| 1,584 ||11,115

|28.5|| 3.6||24.9

| 8.71||

| 1988

| 462,000

|12,555|| 1,523 ||11,032

|27.2|| 3.3||23.9

| 10.75||

| 1989

| 478,000

|13,611|| 1,551 ||12,060

|28.5|| 3.2||25.3

| 8.24||

| 1990

| 493,000

|13,370||1,552||11,818

|27.1||3.1||24.0

| 4.42||

| 1991

| 503,052

|13,229||1,744||11,485

|26.1||3.4||22.7

| −2.85||

| 1992

| 516,458

|13,874||1,760||12,114

|26.7||3.4||23.3

| 2.50||

| 1993

| 530,225

|14,191||1,714||12,477

|26.7||3.2||23.5

| 2.43||

| 1994

| 544,366

|13,766||1,695||12,071

|25.2||3.1||22.1

| 3.80||

| 1995

| 558,879

|13,481||1,910||11,571

|24.1||3.4||20.7

| 5.26||

| 1996

| 573,792

|13,123||1,780||11,343

|22.8||3.1||19.7

| 6.38||

| 1997

| 589,115

|13,382||1,822||11,560

|22.6||3.1||19.5

| 6.39||

| 1998

| 604,842

|13,381||1,997||11,384

|21.9||3.3||18.6

| 7.18||

| 1999

| 620,989

|14,280||1,920||12,360

|22.8||3.1||19.7

| 6.10||2.9

| 2000

| 637,582

|13,947||2,045||11,902

|21.9||3.2||18.7

| 7.36||2.8

| 2001

| 661,317

|13,468||1,979||11,489

|21.0||3.1||17.9

| 18.51||2.6

| 2002

| 710,554

|13,576||2,035||11,541

|21.1||3.2||17.9

| 56.49||2.4

| 2003

| 764,519

|14,560||2,114||12,446

|22.5||3.3||19.2

| 57.40||2.4

| 2004

| 823,744

|14,968||2,215||12,753

|22.3||3.3||19.0

| 60.03||2.3

| 2005

| 888,824

|15,198||2,222||12,976

|21.0||3.1||17.9

| 58.60||2.1

| 2006

| 960,425

|15,053||2,317||12,736

|18.6||2.9||15.7

| 66.46||2.0

| 2007

| 1,039,297

|16,062||2,270||13,792

|17.4||2.5||14.9

| 62.80||1.964

| 2008

| 1,103,496

|17,022||2,390||14,632

|16.2||2.3||13.9

| 44.90||1.968

| 2009

| 1,178,415

|17,841||2,387||15,454

|15.1||2.0||13.1

| 50.46||1.951

| 2010

| 1,228,543

|18,150 ||2,401 ||15,749

|14.8||2.0||12.8

| 27.99||1.877

| 2011

| 1,195,020

|17,573||2,528||15,045

|14.7||2.1||12.6

| −40.65||1.967

| 2012

| 1,208,964

|19,119||2,613||16,506

|15.8||2.2||13.6

| −2.12||2.134

| 2013

| 1,253,191

|19,995||2,588||17,407

|16.0||2.1||13.9

| 21.41||2.157

| 2014

| 1,314,562

|20,931||2,805|| 18,126

|15.9||2.1||13.8

| 32.96||2.108

| 2015

| 1,370,322

|20,983||2,787|| 18,196

|15.3||2.1||13.2

| 27.42||2.093

| 2016

| 1,423,726

|20,714||2,858|| 17,856

|14.5||2.0||12.5

| 24.89||1.984

| 2017

| 1,501,116

|20,581||2,902|| 17,679

|13.7||1.9||11.8

| 39.75||1.945

| 2018

| 1,503,091

|19,740||3,052|| 16,668

|13.1||2.0||11.1

| −9.77||1.838

| 2019

| 1,483,756

|18,611||3,010|| 15,601

|12.5||2.0||10.5

| −23.55||1.744

| 2020

| 1,472,204

|18,042||3,488|| 14,554

|12.3||2.4||9.9

| −17.73||1.846

| 2021

| 1,504,365

|17,805||4,601|| 13,204

|11.8||3.1||8.7

| 12.60||1.612

| 2022

| 1,524,693

|17,801||3,521|| 14,280

|11.7||2.3||9.4

| 3.96||1.640

| 2023

| 1,577,059

|||||

| ||

| 2024

| 1,588,670

|||||

| ||

| 2025

| 1,603,260

|||||

| ||

Fertility rate

{| class="wikitable " style="text-align:right"

! Years !! 1900!!1901!!1902!!1903!!1904!!1905!!1906!!1907!!1908!!1909

| align="left"|Total Fertility Rate in Bahrain||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98||style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|6.98

{| class="wikitable " style="text-align:right"

! Years !! 1910!!1911!!1912!!1913!!1914!!1915!!1916!!1917!!1918!!1919

Ethnic groups

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". Furthermore, sources claim that the government of Bahrain is said to have naturalised Sunnis from different countries to increase the Sunni population in comparison to the Indigenous Shias including people from India, Pakistan, Jordan, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. These may be classified as:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Community !! Description

|Baharna/Bahranis || The indigenous inhabitants of Bahrain. The overwhelming majority are Shia. Of those, the vast majority come from South and Southeast Asia: according to various media reports and government statistics dated between 2005 and 2012 roughly 350,000 Indians, 150,000 Bangladeshis, 110,000 Pakistanis, 40,000 Filipinos, and 8,000 Indonesians. In 2023, about 4,000 people from the United Kingdom live in Bahrain, although some estimates are double this number.

{| class="wikitable"

! Nationality !! Population !! % of population !! Year of data

| || 712,362 || 51% || 2022

| || 350,000 || 25.0% || 2015

| || 110,000 || 7.88% || 2015

| || 100,000 || 7.16% || 2015

| || 50,000-60,000 || 4.30% || 2015

| || 22,000 || 1.57% || 2015

| || 20,000 || 1.43% || 2015

| || 10,000 || 0.71% || 2015

| || 9,000 || 0.64% || 2013

| || 8,200 || 0.58% || 2014

| || 5,000-7,000 || 0.50% || 2015

| || 6,000-7,000 || 0.50% || 2015

| || 6,000 || 0.43% || 2015

| || 5,000 || 0.35% || 2015

| || 4,750 || 0.34% || 2015

| || 4,000 || 0.28% || 2015

| || 3,500 || 0.25% || 2015

| || 2,500 || 0.17% || 2015

| || 2,000 || 0.14% || 2015

| || 1,500 || 0.10% || 2015

| || 1,000 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 400 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 350 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 300-350 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 350 || <0.1% || 2013

| || 300 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 260 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 220 || <0.1% || 2013

| || 200 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 157 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 150 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 122 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 100 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 50-100 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 83 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 20 || <0.1% || 2015

| || 4 || <0.1% || 2015

Genetics

Ancient DNA and genetic history

A 2024 study sequenced whole genomes from four individuals who lived in Bahrain during the Tylos period (circa 300 BCE to 600 CE). The genetic makeup of these ancient Bahrainis revealed a blend of ancestries, primarily tracing back to ancient populations of the Near East. Analysis indicated that their genetic heritage is best described as a mixture of Ancient Anatolia, Levant, and Iran/Caucasus.

Subtle genetic differences were observed among the four individuals, suggesting a degree of population diversity within Bahrain even before the Islamic era. One individual displayed a stronger affinity to Levantine populations, while others showed closer genetic links to groups from Iran and the Caucasus. Paternal population structure within Bahrain was investigated using the 27 Y-STRs (short tandem repeats) in the Yfiler Plus kit to generate haplotypes from 562 unrelated Bahraini males, sub-divided into four geographical regions—Northern, Capital, Southern and Muharraq.

| label2 = Sunni

| value2 = 28.22

| color2 = Green

| label1 = Shia

| value1 = 52.36

| color1 = Light Green

| label3 = Christianity

| value3 = 12.07

| color3 = Blue

| label4 = Hinduism

| value4 = 6.38

| color4 = Orange

| label6 = Other

| value6 = 0.52

| color6= White

| label5 = None

| value5 = 0.45

| color5 = Black

Islam is the official religion forming 74% of the population. Christian and had about 40 Jewish citizens.

According to the website of Ministry of Information Affairs, 74% of the population are Muslim, with Christians being the second largest religious group, forming 10.2% of the population, Jews making up 0.21%. The percentage of local Bahraini Christians, Jews, Hindus and Baha'is is collectively 0.2%.

Bahraini citizens of Muslim faith belong to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of Islam. The last official census (1941) to include sectarian identification reported 52% (88,298 citizens) as Shia and 48% as Sunni of the Muslim population. and The New York Times, estimate sectarian identification to be approximately 45% Sunni and 55% Shia. An official Bahraini document revealed that 51% of the country's citizens are Sunnis, while the Shiite population has declined to 49% of the Muslim population.

Foreigners, overwhelmingly from South Asia and other Arab countries, constituted 52.6% of the population in 2020.