Employment among expats increased at the end of the fourth quarter of last year, according to the latest market indicators published by a government watchdog.
More work permits were issued between October and December 2023, and there was an overall increase in economic activity, said the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) on its website.
A total of 616,122 foreign workers were employed by the end of Q4 2023 representing a 5.8 per cent increase compared with 582,051 employees at the end of 2022.
For the first time since the watchdog started to issue market indicators, data regarding employment among Bahrainis, and other statistics related to citizens entering the job market, wages breakdown and other details were missing.
“The total number of new permits issued by the LMRA during the fourth quarter of 2023 was 53,511, out of which 45,553 were for employment, 1,941 for investors and 6,017 for dependants,” according to the data.
The total number of permits increased by 6.7pc compared to 50,137 issued in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“The share of organisations employing less than 10 workers was 60pc of total new employment work permits issued during the fourth quarter of 2023,” it added.
The highest number of new work permits continues to be issued for the construction sector (22pc), followed by wholesale and retail trade (16pc), and accommodation and food service activities (11pc).
Meanwhile, the indicators revealed that 36,516 visas for employment, investors and dependents processed by the LMRA were terminated during the fourth quarter of last year.
There was a 4.1pc decline in the number of work permits issued for domestic workers, which reached 7,151 during the reporting period, while the renewals in the same category was 6,938 representing a 24pc increase compared with 2022.
The latest data doesn’t reveal statistics related to nationalities of domestic workers registered and average wages of Bahrainis in the public and private sector.
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