Jordan

Region: Asia and Oceania
 

Classification of economies by geographic region is based on that of the United Nations Statistics Division.

Middle Income
 

Based on the income levels set out by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Global Competitiveness Report. However, the groupings are slightly different due to the numbers of economies covered. For GEM, the low income group contains both those classified as low income and lower middle by WEF, and the middle income group has those that WEF groups as upper middle. High income is the same for both GEM and WEF.

Population: 9.7 million (2018)
 

Population data is from the World Bank, except Palestinian Territories World Population Review and Taiwan Worldometers

GDP Growth: 2.1% (2017)
 

GDP growth data is from the World Economic Outlook Database, except Palestinian Territories Worldometers

GDP Per Capita: $4,145 (2015)
 

GDP per capita data is from the World Economic Outlook Database, except Palestinian Territories Worldometers

Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Attitudes

Most recent data: 2023
  • Jordan 2023
  • Jordan 2019
  • Global Average
  • Regional Average
  • Income Level Average

Self-Perceptions

  • 1
     
    Perceived Opportunities Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population (individuals involved in any stage of entrepreneurial activity excluded) who see good opportunities to start a firm in the area where they live
  • 2
     
    Perceived Capabilities Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population (individuals involved in any stage of entrepreneurial activity excluded) who believe they have the required skills and knowledge to start a business
  • 3
     
    Fear of Failure Rate*:Percentage of the 18–64 population who agree that they see good opportunities but would not start a business for fear it might fail. NOTE: this is a percentage of those seeing good opportunities, and not the total adult population
  • 4
     
    Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population (individuals involved in any stage of entrepreneurial activity excluded) who are latent entrepreneurs and who intend to start a business within three years
  • 1. Perceived Opportunities Rate
  • 2. Perceived Capabilities Rate
  • 3. Fear of Failure Rate*
  • 4. Entrepreneurial Intentations Rate:

Activity

  • 1
     
    Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA):Percentage of 18-64 population who are either a nascent entrepreneur or owner-manager of a new business
  • 2
     
    Established Business Ownership Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population who are currently an owner-manager of an established business, i.e., owning and managing a running business that has paid salaries, wages, or any other payments to the owners for more than 42 months
  • 3
     
    Entrepreneurial Employee Activity Rate:Rate of involvement of employees in entrepreneurial activities, such as developing or launching new goods or services, or setting up a new business unit, a new establishment or subsidiary
  • 1. Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA)
  • 2. Established Business Ownership Rate
  • 3. Entrepreneurial Employee Activity Rate

Motivations

  • 1
     
    Motivational Index:Percentage of those involved in TEA that are improvement-driven opportunity motivated, divided by the percentage of TEA that is necessity-motivated
  • 1. Motivational Index

Gender Equity

  • 1
     
    Female/Male TEA Ratio:Percentage of female 18-64 population who are either a nascent entrepreneur or owner-manager of a 'new business', divided by the equivalent percentage for their male counterparts
  • 2
     
    Female/Male Opportunity-Driven TEA Ratio:Percentage of those females involved in TEA who (i) claim to be driven by opportunity as opposed to finding no other option for work; and (ii) who indicate the main driver for being involved in this opportunity is being independent or increasing their income, rather than just maintaining their income, divided by the equivalent percentage for their male counterparts
  • 1. Female/Male TEA Ratio
  • 2. Female/Male Opportunity-Driven TEA Ratio

Impact

  • 1
     
    High Job Creation Expectation Rate:Percentage of those involved in TEA who expect to create 6 or more jobs in 5 years
  • 2
     
    Innovation Rate:Percentage of those involved in TEA who indicate that their product or service is new to at least some customers AND that few/no businesses offer the same product
  • 3
     
    Business Services Sector Rate:Percentage of those involved in TEA in the 'Business Services' sector - Information and Communication, Financial Intermediation and Real Estate, Professional Services or Administrative Services, as defined by the ISIC 4.0 Business Type Codebook
  • 1. High Job Creation Expectation Rate
  • 2. Innovation Rate
  • 3. Business Services Sector Rate

Societal Values

  • 1
     
    High Status to Successful Entrepreneurs Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population who agree with the statement that in their country, successful entrepreneurs receive high status
  • 2
     
    Entrepreneurship as a Good Career Choice Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population who agree with the statement that in their country, most people consider starting a business as a desirable career choice
  • 1. High Status to Successful Entrepreneurs Rate
  • 2. Entrepreneurship as a Good Career Choice Rate

Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions

Most recent data: 2023

Expert Ratings: 1 = highly insufficient, 5 = highly sufficient

  • Jordan 2023
  • Jordan 2019
  • Regional Average
  • Income Level Average
  • Global Average
  • Jordan 2023
  • Jordan 2019
  • Regional Average
  • Income Level Average
  • Global Average

2023 POLICY ROADMAP

Jordan’s GDP grew by nearly 3% in the first half of 2023, and was expected to grow further in the second half. Despite the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical disputes, inflation rates in Jordan are among the lowest in the world.

The government of Jordan has recognized the importance of entrepreneurship, by appointing its first Minister for Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in October 2020, then by developing, in collaboration with the World Bank and entrepreneurs, a National Entrepreneurship Policy (NEP), outlining the actions needed to build the local entrepreneurship ecosystem. The policy lays strong emphasis on diversifying the economy, promoting innovation and enhancing competitiveness, with a budget for 24 strategic projects to support startups and entrepreneurship.

Jordan last participated in GEM in 2019. Much has happened since then, including the pandemic and the geopolitical disputes noted above, so only a limited comparison will be made between 2019 and 2023 GEM Adult Population Survey (APS) and National Expert Survey (NES) results.

2023 Framework Conditions Review1

In 2023, national experts assessed six of Jordan’s Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions (EFCs) as sufficient, leaving seven insufficient. As in many economies, Physical Infrastructure was the strongest, scoring 6.9, while Entrepreneurial Education at School was weakest, scoring 2.9.

Not surprisingly, many EFC scores had changed a great deal since 2019, with scores for both education conditions falling a long way, as did scores for Ease of Entry: Market Dynamics and Research and Development Transfers. Notable increases were for Government Policy: Taxes and Bureaucracy and for Government Entrepreneurship Programs, probably on the back of the General Entrepreneurship Policy.

In 2023, the overall quality of the entrepreneurial environment in Jordan earned a National Entrepreneurial Context Index (NECI) score of 4.7, ranking Jordan 20th of the 49 economies participating in the National Expert Survey (NES). In 2019 that score had been 5.2, placing Jordan 11th of the 54 GEM 2019 economies.

Additional questions in the 2023 NES saw experts assessing the quality of social support for women entrepreneurs, and their access to resources relative to men. Jordan scored well on access to resources (score of 5.3, ranked 16th), but less well on social support (3.6, ranked 26th).

2023 Entrepreneurial Activity Review

Despite the stability of the Jordan economy, one in two adults in Jordan reported that their household income had fallen in 2023. Just one in 12 of Jordan’s adults reported an increase in household income in 2023, third lowest of the 49 GEM economies.

The profile of entrepreneurship has improved in Jordan since 2019. In 2023, nearly three in five adults knew someone who had started a business recently, one in two saw good opportunities to do so locally, and nearly three out of four considered themselves to have the skills and experience to start their own. In 2019, the corresponding proportions had been less than one in two, two out of five and three in five, respectively. However, the proportion of those seeing good opportunities who would not start a business for fear
it might fail remained at just over one in two. Despite this, nearly one in two of those adults in Jordan in 2023 not already starting or running a business expected to do so within the next three years, the seventh highest proportion in GEM and well up on the three in 10 with this expectation in 2019.

Nearly 16% of adults in Jordan were starting or running a new business in 2023, with men nearly twice as likely as women to be doing so, perhaps reflecting the unequal access to resources noted earlier. Established Business Ownership stood at 7% of adults, meaning more than two people starting a new business for every person owning an established one. Two in five of those starting or running a new business were solo entrepreneurs (one owner, no employees) and one in seven new entrepreneurs expected to employ at least another six people over the next five years.

Finally, making a living because jobs are scarce was by far the dominant motivation for those starting new businesses, agreed by 19 out of 20.

1 A brief description of the GEM approach is given in the footnote on p. 107 of the GEM Global Report.

Jordan Reports

Name
Report information
pdf
Jordan 2019/2020 National Report
Report information
pdf
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Category: National Reports
  • Language: English
  • Upload date: 2018-02-19

  • SME Observatory @ JEDCO carried out recently a study about women entrepreneurship which shows the major reasons of low rates of women entrepreneurship in Jordan comparing with Arab and International countries rates and needed recommendation that will improve women entrepreneurship rates in Jordan. As we know women’s entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as an important factor for economic growth and development in the Middle East and North Africa. The share of women-owned SMEs in the MENA region was approximately 14% in 2011 and in Arab countries was 7.4% in 2016 which is low compared to a global average of 34%. Jordanian female TEA rate is the lowest compared to the Arab countries, as only 3.3% of female population aged 18-64 are engaged in starting a business or who recently started one. During the past years, the Jordanian government adopted many efforts regarding women empowerment, both on technical and legislative levels. Moreover, female self-employment decreased from 2.5% in 2005 to 1.8% and female business owners rate decreased from 1.6% in 2005 to 1.3% in 2016. Thus, it is important to investigate women participation in the labor market, and female entrepreneurship in Jordan.

  • URL: https://gemconsortium.org/report/50021
 Women Entrepreneurship in Jordan 2016-2017- WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Report information
pdf
  • Year of publication: 2017
  • Category: National Reports
  • Language: English
  • Upload date: 2018-07-16

  • The Jordan National Report of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2016 survey is the first of a series of reports to be published by the SME Growth Observatory in Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO). This report represents a complete picture of the entrepreneurship activities in Jordan as a utilized tool for policy makers and service providers to entrepreneurs.
  • URL: https://gemconsortium.org/report/50064
 GEM Jordan 2016/2017 Report
Report information
pdf
GEM MENA 2009 Report (English)
Report information
pdf
GEM MENA 2009 Report (French)
Loading...