Jordan Economy - 2004

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 substantial 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 the 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 (worth $300-$600 million a year). Several Gulf nations have provided temporary aid to compensate for the loss of this oil; when this foreign aid expires, the Jordanian government has pledged to raise retail petroleum product prices and the sales tax base. Other ongoing challenges include fiscal adjustment to reduce the budget deficit, broader investment incentives to promote job-creating ventures, and the encouragement of tourism.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $23.64 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3.1% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,300 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.7%
industry: 26%
services: 70.3% (2002 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):
3.5% (2003 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: $3.3 billion
expenditures: $3.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $582 million (2003 est.)

Industries:
phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, light manufacturing, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
7% (2003 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 (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
103,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
445,000 bbl (1 January 2002)

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 (1 January 2002)

Agriculture - products:
wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry

Exports:
$2.908 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

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

Exports - partners:
Iraq 20.6%, US 14.9%, India 8.3%, Saudi Arabia 5.5%, UAE 4% (2002)

Imports:
$4.946 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

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

Imports - partners:
Iraq 13.3%, Germany 8.7%, US 7.9%, China 6%, France 4.2%, UK 4.1%, Italy 4% (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 (2003), 0.71 (2002), 0.71 (2001), 0.71 (2000), 0.71 (1999)