National economy makes strides toward recovery in 2022

National economy has made an important stride toward economic recovery in 2022, performing positively on many important economic indicators, especially external ones despite the crises and difficulties that afflicted the global and local economies over the past few years. According to statistical data for various economic indicators in 2022 obtained by the Jordan News Agency (Petra), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at constant market prices during the past year by 2.5 percent, while tourism revenue increased during the past year by 110.5 percent, reaching $5.816 billion. Additionally, remittances from Jordanian expats increased in 2022 by 1.5 percent amounting to $3.452 billion. Foreign reserves with the Central Bank of Jordan amounted to $17.3 billion, which is sufficient to cover the Kingdom’s imports of goods and services for a period of 5-7 months. Moreover, bank facilitations stood at JD32.6 billion in 2022, an increase of JD2.6 billion from the previous year, while bank deposits grew by the same amount to reach JD42.1 billion. According to statistical data, foreign direct investment inflows to the Kingdom rose last year to $1.1 billion, a growth of 83 percent from the figure reported in 2021. In the tourism sector, travel data issued by the Airport International Group revealed that the number of passengers that passed through the Queen Alia International Airport increased last year to about 7.83 million passengers, an increase of 71.9 percent from the figure reported in 2021. On unemployment in Jordan, the unemployment rate decreased during the last quarter of 2022 by 0.4 percent compared to the same period in 2021, while in the third quarter of last year the rate dropped by 0.2 percent to reach 22.9 percent. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measurement of inflation increased in 2022 by 4.23 percent amounting to 106.79 points compared to 102.46 points in 2021. As for foreign trade in 2022, national exports grew by 33.8 percent amounting to JD8.081 billion compared to JD6.038 billion in 2021. The value of the Kingdom’s imports during the past year amounted to JD19.375 billion, an increase of 26.7 percent from the JD15.295 billion reported in 2021. The Kingdom’s trade deficit increased, during the past year, to reach 22.4 percent, standing at JD10.585 billion compared to JD8.651 billion in 2021.

Source: Jordan News Agency