Jordan Economy - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Economic overview

Jordan's economy is among the smallest in the Middle East, with insufficient supplies of water, oil, and other natural resources, underlying the government's heavy reliance on foreign assistance. Other economic challenges for the government include chronic high rates of unemployment and underemployment, budget and current account deficits, and government debt.

King ABDALLAH, during the first decade of the 2000s, implemented significant economic reforms, such as expanding foreign trade and privatizing state-owned companies that attracted foreign investment and contributed to average annual economic growth of 8% for 2004 through 2008. The global economic slowdown and regional turmoil contributed to slower growth from 2010 to 2017 - with growth averaging about 2.5% per year - and hurt export-oriented sectors, construction/real estate, and tourism. Since the onset of the civil war in Syria and resulting refugee crisis, one of Jordan’s most pressing socioeconomic challenges has been managing the influx of approximately 660,000 UN-registered refugees, more than 80% of whom live in Jordan’s urban areas. Jordan’s own official census estimated the refugee number at 1.3 million Syrians as of early 2016.

Jordan is nearly completely dependent on imported energy—mostly natural gas—and energy consistently makes up 25-30% of Jordan’s imports. To diversify its energy mix, Jordan has secured several contracts for liquefied and pipeline natural gas, developed several major renewables projects, and is currently exploring nuclear power generation and exploitation of abundant oil shale reserves. In August 2016, Jordan and the IMF agreed to a $723 million Extended Fund Facility that aims to build on the three-year, $2.1 billion IMF program that ended in August 2015 with the goal of helping Jordan correct budgetary and balance of payments imbalances.

Real GDP growth rate

2% (2019 est.)

1.94% (2018 est.)

2.12% (2017 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

0.3% (2019 est.)

4.4% (2018 est.)

3.3% (2017 est.)

Credit ratings

Fitch rating: BB- (2019)

Moody's rating: B1 (2013)

Standard & Poors rating: B+ (2017)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$101.738 billion (2019 est.)

$99.786 billion (2018 est.)

$97.893 billion (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$44.568 billion (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$10,071 (2019 est.)

$10,023 (2018 est.)

$10,010 (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2010 dollars

Gross national saving

15.8% of GDP (2019 est.)

12% of GDP (2018 est.)

8.9% of GDP (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 4.5% (2017 est.)

industry: 28.8% (2017 est.)

services: 66.6% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 80.5% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 19.8% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 22.8% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 0.7% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 34.2% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -58% (2017 est.)

Ease of Doing Business Index scores

Overall score: 69 (2020)

Starting a Business score: 84.5 (2020)

Trading score: 79 (2020)

Enforcement score: 55.6 (2020)

Agricultural products

tomatoes, poultry, olives, milk, potatoes, cucumbers, vegetables, watermelons, green chillies/peppers, peaches/nectarines

Industries

tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizer, potash, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing

Industrial production growth rate

1.4% (2017 est.)

Labor force

731,000 (2020 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 2%

industry: 20%

services: 78% (2013 est.)

Unemployment rate

19.1% (2019 est.)

18.61% (2018 est.)

note: official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30%

Population below poverty line

15.7% (2018 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

33.7 (2010 est.)

36.4 (1997)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 3.4%

highest 10%: 28.7% (2010 est.)

Budget

revenues: 9.462 billion (2017 est.)

expenditures: 11.51 billion (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

23.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-5.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

95.9% of GDP (2017 est.)

95.1% of GDP (2016 est.)

note: data cover central government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

-$1.222 billion (2019 est.)

-$2.964 billion (2018 est.)

Exports

$13.109 billion (2018 est.)

$12.718 billion (2017 est.)

Exports - partners

United States 21%, Saudi Arabia 13%, India 8%, Iraq 7%, United Arab Emirates 5%, China 5% (2019)

Exports - commodities

fertilizers, calcium phosphates, packaged medicines, clothing and apparel, phosphoric acid (2019)

Imports

$19.669 billion (2018 est.)

$19.353 billion (2017 est.)

Imports - partners

China 17%, Saudi Arabia 15%, United States 6%, United Arab Emirates 6%, Egypt 5%, India 5% (2019)

Imports - commodities

cars, refined petroleum, natural gas, crude petroleum, clothing and apparel (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$15.56 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$15.54 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Debt - external

$32.088 billion (2019 est.)

$29.916 billion (2018 est.)

Exchange rates

Jordanian dinars (JOD) per US dollar -

0.709 (2020 est.)

0.709 (2019 est.)

0.70925 (2018 est.)

0.71 (2014 est.)

0.71 (2013 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Jordan on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Jordan 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Jordan 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.