Jordan saw a sharp increase in both its exports and its imports and its trade balance by 30.5% in one year. Its main suppliers are China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but also India and the United States.
According to figures published by the Department of Statistics (DoS), exports would have increased by 15.9%, reaching an amount of 5.3 billion JOD, and imports by 23.8% to 12.391 billion JOD, during the ten first months of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020.
The trade balance recorded a deficit of 7.06 billion JOD, up 30.5% over one year.
There is a surprising increase in imports of “natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, etc. by 515.23%, making this category the second among imports for an amount of 786 M JOD (6.35% of total Jordanian imports).
Also note the increase in oil imports in different forms (crude +61.49%, i.e. 608 M JOD, petroleum ether +64.65% or 337 M JOD). Saudi Arabia is just ahead of China and becomes Jordan’s leading supplier (1.8 billion JOD, +41.46% compared to the same period in 2020).
The United Arab Emirates also posted a major increase (+105.86%) and came to rank 3rd among Jordan’s suppliers.
As for national exports, there was a significant increase (+93.76%) in exports of mineral and chemical fertilizers, amounting to 627 M JOD. Among the destinations of Jordanian exports, we find the same customers in the top 3, for the first 10 months of the year, in 2020 and 2021: the United States, followed by India which has succeeded in dethroning Saudi Arabia then in second place in 2020 and in third place in 2021.
Tariff reform
The Prime Minister announced on January 9 a reorganization of customs regulations, the objective of which is to benefit trade and the purchasing power of Jordanians. Originally made up of 11 categories, ranging from 0% to 40%, the regulations should be reduced to 4 categories ranging from 0% to 25%. The Prime Minister also said that all products that did not have a local equivalent should benefit from a reduction in customs duties, which would drop to 5%.
Finance Minister Mohamed Al-Ississ announced that the government’s decision will come into effect next week after being published in the official gazette.
Source Embassy of France in Lebanon
Réagissez à cet article