Jordan adventures

Economy Jordan
Economy - overview:
Definition Field Listing
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):
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$30.03 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
Definition Field Listing
$12.53 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
6.4% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$5,100 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
Definition Field Listing
agriculture: 3.6%
industry: 30.5%
services: 65.9% (2006 est.)
Labor force:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1.512 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
Definition Field Listing
agriculture: 5%
industry: 12.5%
services: 82.5% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
15.4% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line:
Definition Field Listing
30% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Definition Field Listing
lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 29.8% (1997)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
Definition Field Listing
36.4 (1997)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
6.3% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
24.8% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget:
Definition Field Listing
revenues: $4.88 billion
expenditures: $5.51 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.092 billion (2006 est.)
Public debt:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
72.2% of GDP (30 September 2006 est.)
Agriculture - products:
Definition Field Listing
citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives; sheep, poultry, stone fruits, strawberries, dairy
Industries:
Definition Field Listing
clothing, phosphate mining, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
4.6% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
8.431 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - consumption:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
8.387 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports:
Definition Field Listing
4 million kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports:
Definition Field Listing
550 million kWh (2004)
Oil - production:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
107,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
106,400 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1 million bbl (1 January 2005)
Natural gas - production:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
310 million cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1.41 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1.1 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
6.23 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
Current account balance:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
-$2.834 billion (2006 est.)
Exports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$4.798 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities:
Definition Field Listing
clothing, pharmaceuticals, potash, phosphates, fertilizers, vegetables, manufactures
Exports - partners:
Definition Field Listing
US 25%, Iraq 16.8%, India 8%, Saudi Arabia 5.8%, Syria 4.6% (2006)
Imports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$10.42 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities:
Definition Field Listing
crude oil, textile fabrics, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods
Imports - partners:
Definition Field Listing
Saudi Arabia 22.9%, Germany 8.1%, China 7.9%, US 5.3% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$6.57 billion (October 2006)
Debt - external:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$7.3 billion (31 September 2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
Definition Field Listing
ODA, $752 million (2005 est.)
Currency (code):
Definition Field Listing
Jordanian dinar (JOD)
Exchange rates:
Definition Field Listing
Jordanian dinars per US dollar - 0.709 (2006), 0.709 (2005), 0.709 (2004), 0.709 (2003), 0.709 (2002)
Fiscal year:
Definition Field Listing
calendar year