Agricultural sector contributes to JD1.7b in national economy

AMMAN — A recent study prepared by the Department of Statistics (DoS) on Tuesday revealed that the agricultural sector in the Kingdom is one of the main pillars of the growth of the national economy, as the sector contributes some JD1.7 billion as an added value to the national economy.

The study showed that the agricultural sector accounts for 23.5 per cent of the overall national economy through its connection with sectors such as food industries, restaurants and hotels, meat and fish preservation, bakeries, animal production and transportation, Al-Mamlaka TV reported.

Agriculture is also connected with other sectors such as production inputs, water, energy, fertilisers, plastic industries, veterinary medicines and pesticides for the year 2022.

The study also indicated that the agricultural sector achieved an added value of about JD1.7 billion, ranking fourth in terms of value added at the level of economic sectors, and first at the level of commodity sectors.

DoS Director-General Haidar Freihat pointed out that the study was based on the analysis of the input and output tables issued annually by DoS, which classify the national economy into 40 sub-sectors.

He also explained that the study showed that the agricultural sector affects the national economy by 15.8 per cent through backwards linkages, as a result of the demand created by the agricultural sector on the products of other economic sectors.

Freihat added that the sector also contributes 7.7 per cent to the national economy through forward linkages, where the products of the agricultural sector are considered as production inputs in the production process of other economic sectors.

Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat pointed to the importance of this study in the strategic planning of the sector, stressing that the ministry will focus on sectors with a "strong" impact on the overall economic activity, with the aim of achieving balanced growth through various economic clusters and growth drivers.