Mordor Intelligence: Bahrain’s e-commerce market will grow to $2.83 billion by 2030

Economic affairs editor

The size of the e-commerce market in Bahrain reached approximately $1.23 billion in 2025, with expectations to reach $2.83 billion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 14.48%.

Rising smartphone penetration, cloud-first policies, and supportive fintech rules are accelerating digital purchases, while the kingdom’s proximity to Saudi Arabia is boosting cross-border trade, according to a report from Mordor Intelligence.

The report indicated that mobile payments currently account for two-thirds of transactions, and the prevailing use of digital wallets in addition to the “buy now and pay later” service reduces cash payments.

Same-day delivery networks are growing rapidly thanks to the development of airports and ports, and young shoppers are driving strong demand for fashion, beauty and food delivery services, while online fraud and final delivery costs remain the main challenges.

The report expects that continued public and private sector investment in security, logistics services and talent will contribute to maintaining the growth of the e-commerce market in Bahrain by more than 10%.

The issued report confirmed that thanks to Bahrain’s distinguished geographical location and its huge investments in the logistics services sector, and the rapid expansion of the same-day delivery infrastructure, so that it has become an attractive point for companies specialized in this sector, in addition to the airport development project and the cargo village, which has an area of 25 thousand square meters with a capacity of 1.3 million tons, and the container clearance operations carried out by Khalifa bin Salman Port in less than three hours, all of these achievements raised Bahrain to 34th place in the World Bank’s Logistics Services Performance Index, and second. Gulf.

Retailers are leveraging this network to offer same-day delivery service nationwide, raising customer expectations and increasing the volume of orders in the Bahraini e-commerce market.

There has been an increasing demand for fashion among Generation Z consumers, who constitute 22% of the population of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Skin care products alone have formed a specialized market, and 91% of Generation Z shoppers use the Instagram platform.

The report touched on what the Information and e-Government Authority in Bahrain achieved by digitizing 89% of public services during the first half of 2024, which led to reducing transaction times by 68% and reducing costs by 75%. The first cloud bases transferred more than 100 state servers to AWS, which now operates a regional data center cluster in Manama.

The eKEY national framework also provides secure registration for banks and financial technology companies, while the “Sajilat” portal automates commercial licenses. The size of the e-commerce market in Bahrain related to mobile orders is expected to double by 2030 with the development of video shopping technologies, augmented reality experiences, and voice search.

Retailers are redesigning storefronts with compact image files and one-handed navigation.

In addition, the report stated that Bahrain serves as a launching pad to the Gulf Cooperation Council market, which is expected to reach $63 billion by 2027. Through the King Fahd Causeway, sellers can reach 75% of Saudi economic activity within hours, and clear containers in less than three hours at Khalifa Bin Salman Port and the new shipping village, which reduces waiting times, giving Bahrain the advantage of speedy access to the market.