Jordan's trade gap widened by 21 per cent in 2011

Feb 14, 2012, 16:29 GMT

Amman - The deficit in Jordan's trade balance grew by 21.1 per cent in 2011, according to official statistics released Tuesday.

The trade gap, measuring the difference between imports and exports, stood at 7.34 billion dinars (10.37 billion dollars) in 2011 compared with 6.06 billion dinars in 2010, the Department of Statistics said.

Economists attributed the change mainly to a 17.6-per-cent increase in imports, which rose to 12.994 billion dinars from 11.05 billion dinars in 2010.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan's main supplier of crude oil, topped the list of exporters to the country, followed by China, the United States and Italy.

The country's energy bill grew by 58 per cent last year, to an unprecedented level of 3.46 billion dinars.

The Department of Statistics also reported 13.3-per-cent growth in exports and re-exports, to 5.654 billion dinars from 4.99 billion dinars in 2010.

The United States was the largest market for Jordanian goods, followed by Iraq and India.