Country Comments

Jordan’s renewable resources are far less than what can sustain its population at current modest consumption levels per citizen. And the country is moving farther away from sustainability with total fertility rates just under three children per mother in 2020. The other major challenge has been immigration, specifically refugees from wars in the region. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated the Syrian refugee influx into Jordan has been massive. As of June 2015, more than 620,000 Syrians were registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency in Jordan. Syrian refugees have stressed economic and resource infrastructure in Jordan, which was already suffering from structural issues before the refugee crisis. For example, the country’s renewable water supply currently only meets about half of the population’s water demands, with groundwater being used twice as quickly as it can be recharged.

In March 2019 the Wilson Center reported Jordan had some of the lowest indicators in the world on labor force participation, productivity and gender equality due to the chronically low female labor force participation rates that currently stand at around 14%.

An International Labor Organization study estimated that the gender gap in labor force participation in Jordan results in a loss in the value of the GDP by 21 per cent, which is valued at $8 billion based on 2014 figures.