| 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 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 forcing 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 creating investment incentives to promote job creation. |
| GDP - per capita | $4,800 (2005 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate (%) | 5.5% (2005 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry |
| GDP - composition by sector (%) | agriculture: 3.5%, industry: 29.9%, services: 66.7% (2005 est.) |
| Industries | phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism |
| Economic aid - recipient | ODA, $500 million (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external | $8.459 billion (2005 est.) |
| Population below poverty line (%) | 30% (2001 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation (%) | agriculture 5%, industry 12.5%, services 82.5% (2001 est.) |
Environment, Land use / Resources, Economy, Population / Demographics, Infrastructure, Health -- CIA World Factbook, 2005
