Bahrain: Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Bahrain's fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) fell 0.85 percentage points on 2023 (from 3.44% to 2.59%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1983 to 2023), the average change was −0.98 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.82 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 36.45 percentage points in 2001 and the biggest yearly fall was 40.45 percentage points in 1979. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is downward, about 3.3 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 69% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Bahrain had the 34th highest value of the 36 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Bahrain in the 2024 ranking

• Albania — 31st of 36: 8.58%
• Qatar — 32nd of 36: 6.2%
• Iraq — 33rd of 36: 5.19%
• Algeria — 35th of 36: 1.24%
• Antigua and Barbuda — 36th of 36: 0.68%

What this measures

Fuels comprise the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) section 3 (mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials). This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise imports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a non-resident and a resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e.

Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 46 values

Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 22.7% (2019)
• Algeria — 1.24% (2024)
• Djibouti — 7.91% (2023)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 21.44% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 1.73% (2023)
• Iraq — 5.19% (2024)
• Israel — 8.28% (2025)
• Jordan — 10.91% (2024)
• Kuwait — 0.61% (2025)
• Lebanon — 25.75% (2024)
• Libya

More private sector & trade data for Bahrain

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$16.45 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$26.46 billion (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 87.63% (2025)
• Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) — 33.83% (2025)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 19.64% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 62.55% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 35.87% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Bahrain's fuel imports (% of merchandise imports)?

2.59% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 1.52 percentage points from 1.07% in 1970. The highest value was 63.72% in 1974 and the lowest 1.07% in 1970.

How does Bahrain rank?

34th highest of 36 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) unusual for Bahrain?

In 2024, Bahrain's fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) fell 0.85 percentage points on 2023 (from 3.44% to 2.59%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1983 to 2023), the average change was −0.98 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.82 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.FUEL.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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