Jordan: Economy#

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 poverty, 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 2014 - with growth averaging 2.8% per year - and hurt export-oriented sectors, construction, and tourism. Through 2014, Jordan's finances were strained by a series of natural gas pipeline attacks in Egypt, disrupting natural gas exports to Jordan, and led Jordan to rely on more expensive diesel imports, primarily from Saudi Arabia, to generate electricity.

To diversify its energy mix, Jordan has secured several contracts for liquefied natural gas and is currently exploring nuclear power generation, exploitation of abundant oil shale reserves and renewable technologies, as well as the import of Israeli offshore gas. In August 2015, Jordan completed a $2.1 billion, three-year IMF Stand-By Arrangement, which the government had entered to help correct budgetary and balance of payments imbalances. Jordan plans to expand on its fiscal reform measures enacted over the previous few years with a follow-on IMF agreement in 2016 to boost government revenues, reduce the budget deficit, and manage its burgeoning debt, brought on in part by an influx of over 650,000 Syrian refugees since 2011, which put additional pressure on expenditures.

Economic Facts#

GDP (purchasing power parity)	$86.19 billion (2016 est.) $83.89 billion (2015 est.) $81.93 billion (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)	$39.45 billion (2015 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	2.8% (2016 est.) 2.4% (2015 est.) 3.1% (2014 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)	$11,100 (2016 est.) $11,000 (2015 est.) $11,000 (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars
Gross national saving	10.4% of GDP (2016 est.) 10.2% of GDP (2015 est.) 14.4% of GDP (2014 est.)
GDP - composition, by end use	household consumption: 81.1% government consumption: 19.8% investment in fixed capital: 22.6% investment in inventories: 3.1% exports of goods and services: 32.7% imports of goods and services: -59.3% (2016 est.)
GDP - composition, by sector of origin	agriculture: 4.2% industry: 29.6% services: 66.2% (2016 est.)
Agriculture - products	citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, strawberries, stone fruits; sheep, poultry, dairy
Industries	tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizers, potash, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing
Industrial production growth rate	1.8% (2016 est.)
Labor force	2.205 million (2016 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 2% industry: 20% services: 78% (2013 est.)
Unemployment rate	14.8% (2016 est.) 13.1% (2015 est.) note: official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30%
Population below poverty line	14.2% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 28.7% (2010 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	39.7 (2007) 36.4 (1997)
Budget	revenues: $8.649 billion expenditures: $11.22 billion (2016 est.)
Taxes and other revenues	21.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)	-6.5% of GDP (2016 est.)
Public debt	90.6% of GDP (2016 est.) 85.5% of GDP (2015 est.) note: data cover central government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury, and treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-government
Fiscal year	calendar year
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-0.8% (2016 est.) -0.9% (2015 est.)
Central bank discount rate	0.3% (31 December 2010) 4.75% (31 December 2009)
Commercial bank prime lending rate	8% (31 December 2016 est.) 8.24% (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of narrow money	$14.68 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $13.92 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of broad money	$46.78 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $44.52 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of domestic credit	$41.95 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $39.57 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares	$25.45 billion (31 December 2015 est.) $25.55 billion (31 December 2014 est.) $25.76 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
Current account balance	-$3.566 billion (2016 est.) -$3.392 billion (2015 est.)
Exports	$7.124 billion (2016 est.) $7.829 billion (2015 est.)
Exports - commodities	textiles, fertilizers, potash, phosphates, vegetables, pharmaceuticals
Exports - partners	US 21%, Saudi Arabia 16.5%, Iraq 10.3%, India 8.7%, UAE 4.8%, Kuwait 4.4% (2015)
Imports	$17.86 billion (2016 est.) $18.04 billion (2015 est.)
Imports - commodities	crude oil, refined petroleum products, machinery, transport equipment, iron, cereals
Imports - partners	Saudi Arabia 15.4%, China 12.8%, US 6.2%, Germany 4.7%, UAE 4.2% (2015)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	$15.18 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $16.57 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Debt - external	$26.66 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $25.16 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home	$31.2 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $29.96 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad	$629.3 million (31 December 2016 est.) $609.3 million (31 December 2015 est.)
Exchange rates	Jordanian dinars (JOD) per US dollar - 0.71 (2016 est.) 0.71 (2015 est.) 0.71 (2014 est.) 0.71 (2013 est.) 0.709 (2012 est.)