Gross domestic product growth accelerated from 1.3 percent in the second quarter of this year, the statistics agency said.
On a year-on-year basis, GDP expanded 2.4 percent in the third quarter after 1.1 percent growth in the second.
The state was hit hard in February and March by its worst unrest since the 1990s, which forced banks and shops to close and triggered an outflow of
funds. GDP shrank a revised 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2011, the first contraction since the global credit crisis in 2008.
Gabriel Sterne, a senior economist at the Exotix investment bank in London, said oil was so important to Bahrain that it was supporting an economic recovery. “As long as oil holds up, I think that the economy could survive,” he said.
But he added that there was still concern about whether Bahrain could fully regain its attractiveness as an investment destination in other sectors.
“We still do see problems existing in terms of the non-oil economy, in the financial sector where there is a concern that a lot of international institutions would shift to Dubai in tourism and business,” he said.
Output of the hydrocarbon sector climbed 3.5 percent in inflation-adjusted terms in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago. But the real estate sector was down 5.6 percent and hotels fell 8.7 percent in the quarter.
On Wednesday, the country’s finance minister estimated that GDP would grow between 1.6 and 1.7 percent this year, accelerating to 4.5 percent in 2012.
Analysts polled by Reuters in September were not as optimistic about next year’s growth; they forecast 2.0 percent in 2011 and 3.2 percent in 2012.
