| Economy - overview | Jordan is a small Arab country with insufficient supplies of water, oil, and other natural resources. Poverty, unemployment, and inflation are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH, since assuming the throne in 1999, has undertaken some broad economic reforms in a long-term effort to improve living standards. Since Jordan's graduation from its most recent IMF program in 2002, Amman has continued to follow IMF guidelines, practicing careful monetary policy, and making substantial headway with privatization. In 2006, Jordan reduced its debt to GDP ratio significantly. The government also has liberalized the trade regime sufficiently to secure Jordan's membership in the WTO (2000), a free trade accord with the US (2001), and an association agreement with the EU (2001). These measures have helped improve productivity and have put Jordan on the foreign investment map. Jordan imported most of its oil from Iraq, but the US-led war in Iraq in 2003 made Jordan more dependent on oil from other Gulf nations, and has forced the Jordanian Government to raise retail petroleum product prices and the sales tax base. Jordan's export market, which is heavily dependent on exports to Iraq, was also affected by the war but recovered quickly while contributing to the Iraq recovery effort. The main challenges facing Jordan are reducing dependence on foreign grants, reducing the budget deficit, and attracting investment to promote job creation. |
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| GDP | 8.6% (2006) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 6.3% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.6%
industry: 30.5%
services: 65.9% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 30% (2001 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 29.8% (1997) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 36.4 (1997) |
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| Labor force | 1.512 million (2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 5%
industry: 12.5%
services: 82.5% (2001 est.) |
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| Unemployment rate | 15.4% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $4.88 billion
expenditures: $5.51 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.092 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | clothing, phosphate mining, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 4.6% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 8.431 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 99.4%
hydro: 0.6%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 8.387 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 4 million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 550 million kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 107,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - imports | 100,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 445,000 bbl (1 January 2002) |
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| Agriculture - products | citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives; sheep, poultry, stone fruits, strawberries, dairy |
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| Exports | $4.798 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | clothing, pharmaceuticals, potash, phosphates, fertilizers, vegetables, manufactures |
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| Exports - partners | US 26.2%, Iraq 17.1%, India 8.1%, Saudi Arabia 5.9%, Syria 4.7% (2005) |
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| Imports | $10.42 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | crude oil, textile fabrics, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods |
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| Imports - partners | Saudi Arabia 23.6%, China 9.2%, Germany 8%, US 5.6% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $7.3 billion (31 September 2006) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | ODA, $752 million (2005 est.) |
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| Currency code | JOD |
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| Exchange rates | Jordanian dinars per US dollar - 0.709 (2006), 0.709 (2005), 0.709 (2004), 0.709 (2003), 0.709 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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