Jordan’s food exports double to 926 million dinars and reach 114 markets
Jordan’s food industry exported nearly 926 million dinars of product in 2025, against 458 million dinars in 2021, more than doubling in four years and reaching 114 countries, according to figures given to the Jordan news agency on 8 August 2026 by Mohammad Walid Jitan, Vice President of the Jordan Chamber of Industry and the representative of the food sector.
The sector’s domestic weight is the more striking part of the account.
| Jordan food industry | Figure |
|---|---|
| Annual production value | about 4.5 billion dinars |
| Share of total manufacturing output | 28 percent |
| Share of local market needs covered | over 62 percent |
| Share of sector sales going to the local market | 70 percent |
| Industrial entities | 2,600 |
| Workers | over 66,000 |
| Registered capital | about 674 million dinars |
| Economic multiplier | 2.6 dinars of activity for each dinar spent |
The growth rate is the figure worth isolating. Exports rising from 458 million dinars to nearly 926 million over four years is an increase of 102.2 percent, or a compound annual rate of about 19.2 percent on our calculation. The multiplier the chamber cites, of 2.6 dinars of direct and indirect activity for each dinar spent, is its own figure and is presented here as stated.
Export destinations are concentrated in the immediate region.
| Export markets, share | Percent |
|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 23 |
| Iraq | 19 |
| United Arab Emirates | 11 |
| United States | 6 |
| Qatar | 4 |
The five named markets account for 63 percent of exports on our calculation, with the three Gulf states among them taking 38 percent. Saudi Arabia and Iraq alone account for 42 percent. The remaining 37 percent is spread across the balance of the 114 destinations.
The chamber emphasised the sector’s resilience during crises, its role in reducing dependence on imports, and the continuity of product supply. It gave no figure for the sector’s import bill, no breakdown of exports by product, and no comparison of 2026 performance to date against 2025.
Why it matters: a country that covers 62 percent of its own food needs and exports to 114 markets has built genuine depth in one of the few sectors where import substitution and export growth reinforce each other rather than compete. Our reading is that the doubling since 2021 matters more for what it says about market access than for the value itself: at 926 million dinars this is not a large trade flow, but it now reaches 114 destinations, which is a far harder thing to build than volume. The concentration is the counterweight – two markets carry 42 percent of the book, so the sector’s growth and its principal risk sit in the same place.
Looking ahead: Jordan’s Department of Statistics publishes monthly external trade data, which is where the 2026 run rate against the 926 million dinar base will show up first. The concentration in Saudi Arabia and Iraq is the exposure worth monitoring: nearly half the export book depends on two markets.
Sources: Petra, Jordan news agency, “Jordan’s food industry sector covers 62 percent of local market needs”, 8 August 2026, reporting the Jordan Chamber of Industry.
