Jordan Economy 2007

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.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$30.03 billion (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$12.53 billion (2006 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.4% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$5,100 (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.9%
industry: 10.3%
services: 85.8% (2006 est.)

Labor force:
1.512 million (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 12.5%
services: 82.5% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate:
15.4% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:
14.2% (2002)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 30.6% (2003)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
38.8 (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.2% (2006 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
27.5% of GDP (2006 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $4.463 billion
expenditures: $5.491 billion (2006 est.)

Public debt:
69.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

Agriculture - products:
citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives; sheep, poultry, stone fruits, strawberries, dairy

Industries:
clothing, phosphate mining, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
4.6% (2006 est.)

Electricity - production:
9.074 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
8.49 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
4 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
741 million kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
107,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - imports:
106,400 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:
1 million bbl (1 January 2006)

Natural gas - production:
268.5 million cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
1.496 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
1.228 billion cu m (2005)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
5.975 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
$-1.951 billion (2006 est.)

Exports:
$5.204 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Exports - commodities:
clothing, pharmaceuticals, potash, phosphates, fertilizers, vegetables, manufactures

Exports - partners:
US 25.2%, Iraq 16.9%, India 8%, Saudi Arabia 5.8%, Syria 4.7% (2006)

Imports:
$10.26 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Imports - commodities:
crude oil, textile fabrics, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods

Imports - partners:
Saudi Arabia 23.2%, Germany 8.2%, China 8%, US 5.3% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $752 million (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$6.979 billion (2006 est.)

Debt - external:
$7.628 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$8.154 billion (2006 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$29.73 billion (2006)

Currency (code):
Jordanian dinar (JOD)

Exchange rates:
Jordanian dinars per US dollar - 0.709 (2006), 0.709 (2005), 0.709 (2004), 0.709 (2003), 0.709 (2002)