The country has made progress in key areas, reducing its fiscal deficit from 10.3% of GDP in 2014, to 3.2% in 2016 and an estimated 2.5% in 2017. Real GDP growth has also seen improvement, rising from a 25-year low of 2% in 2016 to 2.2% the following year. Moving forward the focus is set to shift towards green and digital expansion in line with the country’s new mid-term economic agenda, the Jor
A regional pioneer in online media, Jordan has seen internet penetration rise rapidly in recent years, with this translating into a boom in online media consumption. Print outlets are responding by upgrading their websites, but traditional print media still retains advantages. Online media faces challenges, including a proliferation of poor-quality sites and a lack of established models to generate…
Print media, particularly daily newspapers, continues to dominate the Jordanian advertising market. Local television receives only a small share of total national advertising spend as a result of Jordanians’ preference for pan-Arab stations over local channels. Currently, online advertising is limited and faces a number of technical and cultural challenges, but industry figures believe that the…
The state plays a central role in the Jordanian media industry, operating three of the country’s major TV channels and owning several newspaper publishers. But private schemes flourish as well. In 2011 a private Amman-based and Jordan-oriented satellite television channel began broadcasting. In addition, the private sector operates most of the radio stations in the kingdom, and the rapid growth…
Interview: Yousef Shamoun What role can digital and social media play in reducing unemployment in Jordan and the region? YOUSEF SHAMOUN: Over the next 20 years countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will have to create more than 100m new jobs just to keep unemployment rates steady at their current levels. Given that unemployment among MENA nations is already quite high,…
This stability, along with the country’s culture of tolerance and openness, is also a point of attraction for tourists, who flock to Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba in impressive numbers. While the government continues to pursue a programme of energy diversification, rising budget deficits and a severe lack of natural resources remain pressing issues. However, these challenges also present new
