Jordan’s Food Strategy Puts Value Added at 1.8 Billion Dinars as US Exports Jump 498 Percent
Jordan’s food manufacturers turn out 4.5 billion dinars of goods a year, equivalent to 6.35 billion dollars, and add 1.8 billion dinars of value, equivalent to 2.54 billion dollars, according to the National Food Industry Strategy for 2027 to 2029, prepared by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply with the Jordan Chamber of Industry and published by Petra on 18 October. Value added is 40 percent of gross output. Exports to the United States rose 498 percent in 2025, the fastest rate among the sector’s 10 largest markets, while Saudi Arabia and Iraq bought 607 million and 482 million dinars of Jordanian food respectively between 2022 and 2025.
1.8 billion dinars of value added from 2,600 enterprises
The strategy counts some 2,600 industrial enterprises with registered capital of 674 million dinars and some 66,500 direct jobs, in addition to indirect jobs in agriculture and logistics. Local producers meet more than 62 percent of domestic demand, and some 70 percent of the sector’s sales stay at home.
On our calculation the average enterprise produces 1.73 million dinars of output a year, adds 0.69 million dinars of value and employs 25.6 people directly. Each direct job carries 67,700 dinars of output and 27,100 dinars of value added.
Jordan’s food industry, sector totals and averages per enterprise
| Measure | Sector total | Per enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Registered capital | JD 674m | JD 0.26m |
| Gross output | JD 4.5bn | JD 1.73m |
| Value added | JD 1.8bn | JD 0.69m |
| Direct jobs | 66,500 | 25.6 |
Sector totals from the National Food Industry Strategy 2027 to 2029, which counts 2,600 enterprises and some 66,500 direct jobs. Per-enterprise averages are our calculation. Dollar equivalents in the text are our calculation at 0.709 dinars per dollar, the midpoint of the Central Bank of Jordan’s 708 and 710 fils rates on 15 October 2026.
Exports reach 823 million dinars in 2024
The strategy puts cumulative export growth over the past five years at 102 percent, without naming the starting year. Exports reached 823 million dinars in 2024, equivalent to 1.16 billion dollars, and 443 million dinars in the first half of 2025.
The Department of Statistics put national exports at 4,379 million dinars in the first half of 2025; the sector’s 443 million dinars equal 10.1 percent of that total on our calculation. Jordanian food products now reach more than 109 countries.
The strategy carries no food export figure for 2026. The latest official trade release, from the same department, shows national exports up 4.6 percent to 5,509 million dinars in January to July 2026.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq take nearly 58 percent of top 10 exports
Among the sector’s 10 largest markets, Saudi Arabia and Iraq absorbed nearly 58 percent of exports between 2022 and 2025. Saudi Arabia bought 607 million dinars of Jordanian food over the period, equivalent to 856.1 million dollars, and Iraq 482 million dinars. On our calculation Saudi Arabia accounted for 55.7 percent of the two markets’ combined 1,089 million dinars, 125 million dinars more than Iraq, or 1.26 times its total.
The United States recorded the fastest growth among the 10 largest markets. Exports there rose 498 percent in 2025, so on our calculation the 2025 value was 5.98 times that of the period it is compared with. The strategy does not say whether the 2025 rate covers the full year or only the first half, the last period for which it gives a sector export total. It puts cumulative exports to the United States at 98 million dinars, without stating the period those exports cover.
Cumulative food exports to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, 2022 to 2025
| Market | Exports (JD m) | Share of the pair |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 607 | 55.7% |
| Iraq | 482 | 44.3% |
| Combined | 1,089 | 100% |
Cumulative values from the strategy; together the two account for nearly 58 percent of exports to the sector’s 10 largest markets over the period. Shares of the pair and the combined total are our calculation.
The value-added test
The strategy’s own diagnosis is that part of the sector’s expansion still rests on rising volume demand rather than on deeper value added. It calls for a wider spread of export markets and deeper penetration of high-value global retail supply chains. On our calculation gross output exceeds value added by 2.7 billion dinars. At 40 percent of gross output, value added is the measure against which that diagnosis can be tracked over the 2027 to 2029 plan.
Why it matters: For Jordan, food manufacturing works on both sides of the trade account. The sector meets more than 62 percent of home demand and sold 1.16 billion dollars of goods abroad in 2024, and its exports in the first half of 2025 equal a tenth of national exports on our calculation. The strategy names its biggest challenge as growth that still rests on volume demand rather than on deeper value added, and the United States shows that a market outside the region can grow quickly from a small base.
Outlook: The strategy runs from 2027 to 2029. The tests are whether value added rises from 40 percent of gross output and whether the US gain carries into a second year. On 17 October, 15 Jordanian food manufacturing companies began their participation in the SIAL Paris exhibition, at a three-day Jordanian pavilion organised by the Jordan Exporters Association.
Sources: Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, Petra, Department of Statistics, Central Bank of Jordan, The Edge.
