Amman: Jordan’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the national statistical system and improve the quality of economic data have placed the review of the country’s GDP framework at the center of its economic modernization drive. The overhaul is designed to give policymakers a clearer, more precise reading of economic performance, aligned with structural shifts in recent years, and to support more credible fiscal, monetary, and investment decision-making geared toward medium- and long-term growth.
According to Jordan News Agency, former ministers and economic experts have indicated that this revision marks a pivotal step toward modernizing the statistical infrastructure and aligning it with international standards, thereby reinforcing investor confidence in the national economy.
Former Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour emphasized the significance of GDP as a crucial indicator for guiding strategic and development decisions, providing an objective assessment of economic activity. He noted that the System of National Accounts, used globally for economic statistics, has undergone continuous updates for over seven decades to keep pace with global economic shifts and to capture economic activity with greater accuracy. Abu Hammour added that the revised framework will deliver more accurate readings of the economy’s size and performance, influencing a range of indicators such as growth, unemployment, and inflation. This enhanced understanding will aid the government and the Central Bank in shaping more effective fiscal and monetary policies, while boosting transparency and strengthening trust among investors and international financial institutions.
Former Minister of State for Economic Affairs Yousef Mansur highlighted the immediate impact of recalculating GDP using updated international methodologies on macroeconomic readings. The size of the national economy rose to about JD40 billion, up from roughly JD36 billion under previous estimates. The increase stems from the inclusion of previously uncounted productive activities, particularly in sectors such as real estate, construction, and agriculture, which collectively added around JD3.6 billion to GDP. Mansur pointed out that improved data sends positive signals to policymakers and investors, bolstering confidence both domestically and internationally and supporting Jordan’s investment profile and its ability to attract foreign capital.
Former Investment Minister Khuloud Al-Saqqaf noted that reviewing the GDP framework is essential for improving the accuracy of economic-performance measurement and updating the base year to better reflect structural changes in the economy. She stated that the revision followed global best practices in national-accounts compilation, strengthening methodologies and expanding data sources to enhance the reliability of figures. Al-Saqqaf added that the integration of new sectors and the recalibration of weights for traditional sectors are expected to increase the overall size of GDP and improve macroeconomic readings.
Economic expert Nouh Sheyyab described the latest revision as a comprehensive update of GDP-calculation methods, reflecting international best practice and completed in cooperation with ESCWA and the IMF. He noted that the most significant change was updating the base year from 2016 to 2023, a major adjustment that captures structural shifts in the economy and provides a more realistic measure of GDP. The recalculation for 2023 placed GDP at JD39.8 billion, an increase of JD3.6 billion, which represents a 10 percent rise from previous estimates. This revision is expected to strengthen the quality and precision of national-accounts data, giving policymakers a clearer and more credible picture of economic performance and supporting better-informed fiscal, monetary, and investment decisions.