By Tom Hanratty

BAHRAIN is one of the highest earning countries in the Middle East, according to a new study.

The GCC Salary Survey and Cost of Living Analysis questioned more than 13,500 people from 20 employment sectors in 13 countries.

It showed that 22 per cent of workers in Bahrain earn between $5,000 (BD1,890) and $10,000 (BD3,780) per month, compared to 20pc in the UAE and 19pc in Kuwait.

Only 7pc of workers in each of the three countries earned more than $10,000 a month.

Despite the global credit crunch, the survey, conducted by Dubai-based jobs portal, Bayt.com, also claims that the average salary in the Middle East has risen by more than 15pc in the last two years.

However, the survey says the context of this can only be realised when viewed alongside the increase in the cost of living across the region, which rose by an average of 37pc between December 2007 and December last year.

The average salary increase in Bahrain last year was 13pc, while the cost of living reportedly rose by 29pc.

The study said this was the reason why 60pc of workers in Bahrain were unsatisfied with their wages.

According to the survey, Moroccan workers are the least satisfied with their pay, while Oman leads the way in terms of salary satisfaction.

Bahrain fairs relatively equally to its neighbours, with 30pc of people registering low satisfaction with their earnings, while 7pc are said to be highly satisfied.

The remaining 63pc described themselves as moderately happy.

The study also found that 30pc of respondents in Bahrain saved more than 20pc of their monthly salary.

Meanwhile, an average of 77pc of Middle East residents felt they had been affected by the credit crunch, compared to 72pc in Bahrain.

Bayt.com’s regional manager Amer Zureikat said the timing of the study, coming amid the global recession, made the information more relevant.

“Conducting a wide survey across the Middle East by asking what level of remuneration an employee receives and their satisfaction with it, helps to paint a very clear picture of economic conditions inside a particular country,” he said. “Recruitment industry professionals and organisations like Bayt.com as well as other industry stakeholders like major industry leaders find this type of timely and localised information highly beneficial, as it provides a good starting point for identifying the trends that are driving these current sentiments, thus allowing them to focus or change their business strategies to address the employees’ concerns.