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Bahrain bucks the Middle Eastern trend as political instability creates uncertainty

The economic outlook across most Middle Eastern countries is positive and the region is increasingly a place expats enjoy living. But this trend is not mirrored across every Middle Eastern nation.

Expats in Bahrain paint a different picture from those in the rest of the Middle East across a range of factors. Just over one in ten (13%) expats believe Bahrain is heading in the right direction while a quarter (26%) believes the country is off on the wrong track. In addition, while the economic outlook is well above average in every other Middle Eastern nation, satisfaction with the state of the economy in Bahrain is below the global average (59%), with only two fifths (42%) satisfied. Yet this is not the area in which expats are reporting the highest level of dissatisfaction.

For many expats in Bahrain, political instability remains a bigger concern than the state of the economy. While the number of expats actively looking to leave Bahrain (37%) is slightly higher but broadly in line with other Middle Eastern nations, more than half (60%) of those looking to leave are doing so due to political instability. While this figure is much higher than the global average (9%) it is also much higher than other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (6%) and Qatar (5%). It seems the Arab Spring, which has had a pronounced impact on Bahrain since the beginning of 2011, is still having a noteable impact on the views of expats living in the country.

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