Jordan Sectoral Study – Water

One of the smaller countries in the Middle East, Jordan is strategically important in a volatile region, having emerged relatively unscathed from the Arab Spring. A homogeneous country with a high proportion of Palestinians, Jordan has a relatively young population that has sharply increased in recent years, due to the influx of Syrian refugees. Jordan is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and King Abdullah II has ruled since 1999.
Jordan has a well-educated and skilled workforce, and a strong banking system. Its GDP increased by 2,38% during 2015 and reached a value of USD 37,52 billion. In spite of high youth unemployment and a large government budget deficit, compounded by the heavy refugee-burden, Jordan has managed to maintain a small but steady growth during the past 5 years. A predominantly importing country, Jordan is characterized by large trade deficits, with net trade in goods and services amounting to USD -8.4 billion in 2015. Inflation is estimated to remain low and stable at levels around 2%.
Considered a politically safe and stable country with untapped potential across many sectors, Jordan has a relatively progressive business environment. The World Bank ranked it 118 out of the 189 countries surveyed in its Doing Business 2017.
One of driest countries on earth, Jordan faces a critical imbalance between supply and demand of water. Amidst a steady population growth and ageing infrastructure that loses up to 50% of water through system leakages, the management of scarce water resources is a major issue for the government that is increasingly advocating coordinated investments and interventions relating to maintenance and upgrades of existing water networks. This study is a part of the Development Study and analyses the water sector.