Bahrain’s population doubles to 1.234 million

Bahrain’s population have nearly doubled to 1.234 million this year compared with nine years ago and nationals have become a minority in their own country, according to an official census released on Monday.

The population at the end of April 2010 stood at 1,234,596, including 568,424 Bahrainis and 666,172 expatriates, showed the census results, published in the Bahrain Arabic language daily 'Alayam'.

The total number was nearly 90 per cent higher than the Gulf country’s population of around 650,000 in 2001, the report said.

It showed the ratio of Bahrainis to the total population declined to around 46 per cent in April 2010 from 62 per cent in 2001. Expatriates became a majority, with their ratio rising to 54 from 38 per cent during that period.

Gender-wise, the ratio of males to females stood at 102 to 100 at the end of April, according to the census.

“Growth in the Bahraini population stood at 7.3 per cent during 2001-2010 while that in the expatriate population stood at 11.8 per cent,” the report said.

Bahrain, an island nation, is the smallest member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in terms of area, population and economy.

Its oil resources of around 160 million barrels are negligible compared with those in other GCC members although it was the first country in the region to strike crude in 1930. Unlike other GCC states, Bahrain is less reliant on hydrocarbon sales, with its massive banking services, taxes and aluminium exports providing it with a key source of hard currency.