The Jordan Economic Forum has issued a new analytical paper titled “Economic Modernization Vision: Tracking the Impact of the First Executive Program (2023–2025)”, which thoroughly examines progress achieved during the first three years of implementation.
اضافة اعلان
In a press statement, the Forum noted that the second phase of the executive program (2026–2029) will be critical for reviewing achievements and assessing their real impact on the national economy and living standards.
According to the paper, the first phase witnessed notable improvements in several indicators, including economic growth, the rise in foreign direct investment inflows, and the creation of new job opportunities.
However, the Forum highlighted that the positive impact of these improvements on household income and quality of life remained limited. This is attributed to the nature of the sectors driving growth and investment—often capital-intensive and high-value sectors that do not directly contribute to employment or higher wages—as well as variations in capital expenditure efficiency across sectors.
The Forum stressed that the next phase must focus on enhancing execution efficiency and productivity, and aligning economic and fiscal goals with realistic financing capacities to ensure sustainability.
The Economic Modernization Vision states that the upcoming phase will be one of expansion and consolidation, building on the outcomes of the first phase to widen implementation across additional sectors and generate broader economic and social impact.
While recognizing the achievements so far, the Forum emphasized that the Vision remains a long-term national framework to stimulate growth and improve quality of life, and that the progress recorded reveals the scale of effort still needed to achieve sustained reform and broader social impact.
This latest paper follows a previous analytical study released in March titled “Economic Modernization Vision: Between Ambitious Goals and Implementation Reality,” which served as a reference point for tracking execution during the 2023–2025 phase.
The new analysis points out that the second executive program is still under development, and final results for the first phase have not yet been officially published. Therefore, the study relies on the most recent official data available to provide an accurate reading of progress and readiness to transition to phase two, with special attention to the role of foreign direct investment in supporting growth.
The Forum reviewed the Vision’s overall performance as the main reference framework for economic policy between 2022 and 2033, based on two fundamental pillars: unleashing productive capacities for growth and improving citizens’ quality of life.
The Vision is translated into executive programs featuring eight main goals supported by measurable performance indicators. However, the Forum noted a shortage of updated data on several metrics, except for new job creation figures and actual per-capita income—two indicators most directly reflecting the Vision’s impact on the daily lives of citizens.
According to official government data, 36.4% of 641 priorities in the executive program were completed between early 2023 and the end of Q3 2025, while 55.6% are still in progress, and 38 priorities are behind schedule.
By strategic driver, achievements were distributed as follows:
60 priorities in high-value industries
45 in future services
34 in innovation and entrepreneurship
24 in sustainable resources
Other drivers—quality of life, “Jordan as a global destination,” investment, and environmental sustainability—recorded mixed levels of progress reflecting sectoral variations.
In terms of employment, one of the Vision’s core objectives, government data show that 96,421 new jobs were created in 2024, achieving 96.4% of the annual target, compared to 95,342 new jobs in 2023.
Despite the numerical increase, the impact on the labor market was modest, with unemployment stabilizing at 21.3% in Q2 2025, prompting the Forum to emphasize that the quality and sustainability of jobs are more important than the total number created.
Overall, annual job creation during the first phase ranged between 95,000 and 100,000 opportunities. While significant, this did not translate into a meaningful decline in unemployment due to concentration in low-productivity, low-wage, seasonal, or short-term sectors.
The paper also analyzed the evolution of real per-capita income, a key measure of growth impact on living standards. Data show that average actual income per capita rose from 2,830 dinars in 2023 to 2,846 dinars in 2024, a growth rate of 0.6%, below the Vision’s target of 3% annually.
Growth in per-capita income has remained below 1% annually since 2022, underscoring the need to revise mechanisms that enhance income, productivity, and wage alignment with actual value added.
The first phase program included targets for per-capita GDP at current prices for 2023–2025 but did not define targets for real income. The Forum called for including such measurable outcomes in the second phase.
Official data show that per-capita GDP reached 3,228 dinars in 2024 compared to a target of around 3,779 dinars—a realization rate of about 85%. The 2.5% growth compared to 2023 did not translate into real income improvements, according to the Forum.
The paper paid particular attention to foreign direct investment, describing it as a key factor supporting development, technology transfer, competitiveness, and high-quality job creation, even though it was not included as a primary Vision target.
FDI reached 721 million dinars in the first half of 2025, nearly two-thirds of the annual 1-billion-dinar target. In 2024, FDI totaled 1 billion dinars, surpassing the projected 900 million, reflecting improved business confidence and a more favorable investment environment.
In conclusion, the Forum stated that the Economic Modernization Vision remains the most comprehensive framework to confront economic challenges and support sustainable development. It stressed that the next phase requires stronger execution tools, clearer measurement of project impact on employment and income, and ensuring that the Vision evolves into a sustained path for improving citizens’ lives rather than merely a time-bound plan.
