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AMMAN — Jordan's population has reached 12,045,180, ranking 11th among Arab countries and 85th globally, according to population estimates released by the Department of Statistics (DoS).
In a statement issued on Friday to mark World Population Day, observed annually on July 11, the DoS said Jordan has experienced major demographic changes since the second half of the last century, driving significant population growth.
The population increased from 586,000 in 1952 to 11.937 million at the end of 2025 and is projected to reach 12.144 million by the end of 2026, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
The department said that the annual population growth rate currently stands at 1.7 per cent, meaning the population would double in about 40 years if the current rate continues.
According to DoS, population growth has fluctuated over the decades due to changes in fertility, mortality and net migration. The annual growth rate declined from 4.4 per cent between the 1979 and 1994 censuses to 2.6 per cent between 1994 and 2004, before rising to 5.3 per cent between 2004 and 2015 following regional political developments and the influx of Syrian refugees after 2011.
The department attributed improvements in life expectancy to better healthcare services, noting that average life expectancy reached 75.3 years in 2023.
Children under the age of 15 accounted for 34.2 per cent of the population, while people aged 15 to 64 represented 62.1 per cent and those aged 65 and above made up 3.7 per cent.
The demographic dependency ratio stood at 61.4 in 2025, while the average household size declined from 5.4 people in 2004 to 4.8 in 2015.
The infant mortality rate fell from 122 deaths per 1,000 live births during the 1952-1955 period to 14 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023. Over the same period, the total fertility rate declined from 5.6 children per woman in 1990 to 2.6 in 2023. The DoS attributed the decline in part to the increase in the average age at first marriage for women, which reached 27.5 years in 2024.
The department also linked lower fertility rates to higher female enrolment in higher education and economic factors. The refined economic participation rate for women reached 14.8 per cent in 2025.
In education, the illiteracy rate among Jordanians dropped from 16.7 per cent in 1991 to 4.5 per cent in 2025, while the proportion of Jordanians with a high school education or higher increased to 43.8 per cent.
Globally, the United Nations projects the world's population will reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050 and more than 10.4 billion by 2100 under its medium-growth scenario.
