AMMAN — A recent report released by the
World Bank has unveiled the distressing reality that over one-third of Jordan's
population lives below the poverty line.
اضافة اعلان
According to the report titled "Atlas of
the
Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2023," an estimated 35
percent of the total population in Jordan, or approximately 3.980 million
people out of 11.3 million, are classified as poor.
The World Bank has set the poverty line per
capita in Jordan at $7.9 per day.
Comparing these figures with previous
government estimates, which were released by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
for Economic Affairs Nasser Shraideh,
the poverty rates are now higher by 11 percent.
In 2021, Shraideh reported a poverty rate of 24
percent in Jordan, according to Al-Ghad News.
The rising poverty rates and its implications
The report highlights the alarming data,
revealing that a third of
Jordanians fall under the poverty line, which is
estimated at JD168 per month.
This figure represents a significant increase
from JD100 in 2018, as determined by the Household Expenditure and Income
Survey for 2017–2018 conducted by the Department of Statistics.
Various global events in the past five years,
including the
COVID-19 pandemic and the
Russian-Ukrainian conflict, along with
subsequent inflationary pressures, have influenced food prices worldwide.
This may have contributed to the notable rise
in poverty rates locally. The World Bank had previously predicted that the
Jordanian poverty rate would increase by approximately 11 percent in 2021 due
to the effects of the virus, reaching 27 percent.
Persistently increasing poverty rates
The
Kingdom of Jordan has witnessed successive
increases in poverty rates over the past two decades. In 2018, the poverty rate
was estimated at 15.7 percent, compared to 14.4 percent in 2010, 13.3 percent
in 2008, and 13 percent in 2006.
The report highlights that unless the
world's poorest countries experience unprecedented growth, they are unlikely to achieve
the first goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is to end poverty by
2030.
The
COVID-19 pandemic has led to a global
increase in poverty. In 2020 alone, the number of people living in
"extreme poverty" increased by approximately 70 million, representing
an 11 percent rise compared to 2019. Current projections indicate that by 2030,
around 574 million people, or roughly 7 percent of the world's population, will
still live in
extreme poverty.
The report further warns that uneven economic
recovery, rising food prices, and conflicts among major food producers could
impede progress in eradicating poverty. Despite a decrease of approximately 66
percent in the number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide between
1990 and 2019, from 2 billion to about 660 million, the global population has
increased by nearly 2.4 billion during the same period.
Read more National news
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
