Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Bahrain
Bahrain: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) was 2.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bahrain, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
In 2025, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bahrain stood at 2.4%. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.1% on the previous year and down 8.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bahrain peaked at 5.5% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 2.4%, in 2025.
Bahrain ranks 186th of 187 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Bahrain, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 5.5% | — |
| 1992 | 5.4% | -2.9% |
| 1993 | 5.1% | -5.4% |
| 1994 | 4.9% | -4.3% |
| 1995 | 4.7% | -4.5% |
| 1996 | 4.5% | -2.8% |
| 1997 | 4.4% | -2.5% |
| 1998 | 4.5% | +1.1% |
| 1999 | 4.3% | -4.0% |
| 2000 | 3.9% | -7.9% |
| 2001 | 3.8% | -4.3% |
| 2002 | 4.2% | +11.9% |
| 2003 | 4.1% | -2.4% |
| 2004 | 4.4% | +5.7% |
| 2005 | 4.0% | -7.0% |
| 2006 | 4.1% | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 3.9% | -4.7% |
| 2008 | 3.8% | -1.9% |
| 2009 | 3.7% | -2.4% |
| 2010 | 2.7% | -28.7% |
| 2011 | 2.6% | -2.3% |
| 2012 | 2.6% | +1.6% |
| 2013 | 2.6% | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 2.7% | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 2.7% | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 2.7% | -0.2% |
| 2017 | 2.6% | -1.9% |
| 2018 | 2.6% | -2.7% |
| 2019 | 2.5% | -2.7% |
| 2020 | 2.8% | +11.0% |
| 2021 | 2.7% | -0.3% |
| 2022 | 2.6% | -5.3% |
| 2023 | 2.6% | +1.2% |
| 2024 | 2.5% | -3.3% |
| 2025 | 2.4% | -4.1% |
Bahrain compared with similar countries
- Bahrain's 2.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 13.2%, 18% of the median. (62 countries reporting)
- Bahrain's 2.4% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 25.9%, 9% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Bahrain changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | -28.7% | 3.7% | 2.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.8% | 4.3% | 5.5% | 9 |
| 2000s | 4.0% | 3.7% | 4.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.6% | 2.4% | 2.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Bahrain
More work & labour data for Bahrain
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual 0.6429 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth 0.5388 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth 0.7788 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.08 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.5428 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 2,169 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 158.19 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 1,342 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 1,748 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 3,090 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bahrain?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bahrain was 2.4% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Bahrain?
- The highest recorded value was 5.5% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Bahrain?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.4% in 2025.
- How does Bahrain rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Bahrain ranks 186th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in Bahrain?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bahrain data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a "self-employment jobs." i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include sub-categories of employers, own-account workers and members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers.