Population almost doubled in past decade

AMMAN — The latest population census has revealed that the Kingdom's population has almost doubled over the past decade, according to official data released on Monday.

Non-Jordanians now represent around one third of Jordan's population with an estimated number of 2.9 million and 1.26 million being Syrians, the figures show.  

The report, released by the Department of Statistics (DoS), showed that the Kingdom's population in 2004 was 5.1 million, while by 2015, it increased by 4.4 million, making the total population 9.5 million. The figures also revealed that Jordan hosts 636,270 Egyptians, 634,182 Palestinians, 130,911 Iraqis, 31,163 Yemenis, 22,700 Libyans and 197,385 from other nationalities. 

Nearly half of non-Jordanians in the Kingdom live in Amman, which is home to 38.6 per cent of Jordanians. 

The 2015 Population Census, conducted in December, also showed that Jordan is still the country with the lowest illiteracy rate (9.1 per cent) in the Arab world. The majority of Jordanian children (95 per cent) between the ages of 6 and 15 are enrolled in schools and seven out of ten Syrians within the same age categories attend schools. 

According to the 2015 population census, three out of ten Jordanian males and four out of ten Jordanian females between the ages of 19 and 23 are enrolled in universities. Meanwhile, 13.3 per cent of Syrians are enrolled in universities. 

In terms of health, the census revealed that 55 per cent of the Kingdom's population is covered by various types of health insurance. Approximately 312,000 children benefit from a Royal Decree that provides all children under the age of six with free healthcare.  

The Ministry of Health’s medical insurance (mostly for government employees) covers 41.7 per cent of Jordanians, followed by the army-run Royal Medical Services (38 per cent), while the rest of the insured obtain the service as workers in other institutions or their dependants. The insurance is provided through private insurance firms, university hospitals, UNRWA, international insurance and other sources. Health insurance coverage rates among Jordanian females reached 65 per cent, versus 63 per cent among males. 

The population and housing census was conducted late last year, 11 years after the previous count was carried out in 2004. Overall, the report has shown a drastic increase in the Kingdom’s population, which is due to the large number of foreigners and refugees currently hosted in the Kingdom. According to the 2012 amendments to the 1950 General Statistics Law, a population and housing census is to be conducted every ten years.