Economy - overview:
Jordan is a small Arab country with inadequate supplies of water
and other natural resources such as oil. Debt, poverty, and
unemployment 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. Amman in
the past three years has worked closely with the IMF, practiced
careful monetary policy, and made significant headway with
privatization. The government also has liberalized the trade regime
sufficiently to secure Jordan's membership in the WTrO (2000), a
free trade accord with US (2000), and an association agreement with
the EU (2001). These measures have helped improve productivity and
have put Jordan on the foreign investment map. The US-led war in
Iraq in 2003 dealt an economic blow to Jordan, which was dependent
on Iraq for discounted oil. It remains unclear how Jordan will
finance energy imports in the absence of such a deal. Other ongoing
challenges include fiscal adjustment to reduce the budget deficit
and broader investment incentives to promote job-creating ventures.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $22.63 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.9% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,300 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.7%
industry: 26%
services: 70.3% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
30% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 29.8% (1997)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
36.4 (1997)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.3% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
1.36 million (2002)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 82.5%, industry 12.5%, agriculture 5% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate:
16% official rate; actual rate is 25%-30% (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.7 billion
expenditures: $3 billion, including capital expenditures of $614
million (2002 est.)
Industries:
phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement,
potash, light manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
1% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
7.091 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.4%
hydro: 0.6%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
6.86 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
2 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
267 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
40 bbl/day NA bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
103,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
445,000 bbl (37257)
Natural gas - production:
290 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
290 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
3.256 billion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats,
poultry
Exports:
$2.5 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products,
manufactures, pharmaceuticals
Exports - partners:
Iraq 20.1%, US 14.5%, India 8.1%, Saudi Arabia 5.4%, Israel 4.4%
(2002)
Imports:
$4.4 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals,
manufactured goods
Imports - partners:
Iraq 13.4%, Germany 8.8%, US 8%, China 6%, France 4.2%, UK 4.1%,
Italy 4.1% (2002)
Debt - external:
$8.2 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $553 million (2000 est.)
Currency:
Jordanian dinar (JOD)
Currency code:
JOD
Exchange rates:
Jordanian dinars per US dollar - 0.71 (2002), 0.71 (2001), 0.71
(2000), 0.71 (1999), 0.71 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year