Bahrain’s unemployment rate fell to 5.6% in 2025 from 6.2% a year earlier, as more Bahraini citizens entered the workforce and youth unemployment recorded significant declines.
According to newly released data on Bahrain’s Open Data Portal, the unemployment rate peaked at 6.49% in April 2025 before declining during the second half of the year, bringing the labour market closer to pre-pandemic stability.
The improvement followed a directive by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa for the Labour Ministry to provide three job opportunities to every registered Bahraini jobseeker before the end of 2025.
By December 31, 18,657 jobseekers had been offered three employment opportunities and attended at least three interviews through the ministry. A total of 4,746 Bahrainis secured jobs through vacancies posted on the National Employment Platform under the directive.
The vacancies that resulted in employment were submitted by 2,863 establishments, highlighting the role of private-sector employers in absorbing more Bahraini talent.
The number of unemployed Bahrainis fell to 15,433 by the end of 2025 from 17,402 at the end of 2024. The number of unemployed men declined from 5,206 to 4,483, while unemployed women fell from 12,196 to 10,950.
The overall unemployment rate among women declined from 10.03% to 8.86%, while the rate among men dropped from 3.23% to 2.7%.
Young Bahrainis recorded some of the sharpest improvements. Unemployment among those aged 15 to 19 fell from 41.90% in 2024 to 24.51% in 2025. The decline may reflect increased employment opportunities for young people with secondary education, as well as a greater number choosing to pursue higher education.
Among Bahrainis aged 25 to 29, unemployment dropped from 18.55% to 10.82% over the same period.
The National Employment Platform recorded 33,400 job vacancies in 2025, according to Labour and Legal Affairs Minister Yousif Khalaf.
Private-sector labour movement also remained significant during the year. In response to parliamentary questions in April 2026, Khalaf said 9,149 new entrants joined the private sector in 2025, while 7,166 people returned to work after more than six months of unemployment and another 4,239 returned after being unemployed for between two and six months.
A further 6,409 workers moved directly from one private-sector job to another.
Despite the overall improvement, the data points to a continuing challenge around the employment of highly educated Bahraini women. In 2025, 78.2% of unemployed women held bachelor’s degrees, up from 62.8% in 2016.
Bahrain’s unemployment rate had remained between 3.1% and 5.1% throughout much of the 2010s before rising sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic. It reached a record 7.7% in April 2021 before beginning a sustained decline as economic activity recovered and government employment initiatives were introduced.
The latest figures suggest that Bahrain’s labour market recovery has continued, although the persistent gap in employment for highly educated women remains an area requiring further attention.