Amman, July 10 (Petra)-- The Kingdom's population has reached 12,045,180, ranking the Kingdom 11th among Arab countries and 85th globally by population, according to new population estimates released by the Department of Statistics (DoS) on Friday to mark World Population Day, observed annually on July 11.

The DoS said Jordan has experienced significant demographic changes over the past several decades, with the population increasing from 586,000 in 1952 to 11.937 million at the end of 2025. The population is projected to rise further to 12.144 million by the end of 2026.

Jordan's annual population growth rate currently stands at 1.7 percent, meaning the country's population is expected to double in approximately 40 years if current trends continue.

The department noted that population growth has fluctuated over the years due to changes in fertility, mortality and net migration. The growth rate declined from 4.4 percent between the 1979 and 1994 censuses to 2.6 percent between the 1994 and 2004 censuses, before rising to 5.3 percent between the 2004 and 2015 censuses, largely as a result of the influx of Syrian refugees following the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011.

Jordan has also made notable progress in healthcare, contributing to lower mortality rates and raising life expectancy at birth to 75.3 years for both sexes in 2023.

According to the estimates, children under the age of 15 account for 34.2 percent of the population, while 62.1 percent are of working age (15–64 years). People aged 65 and above represent 3.7 percent of the population. The demographic dependency ratio stood at 61.4 in 2025, while the average household size declined from 5.4 persons in 2004 to 4.8 persons in 2015.

The DoS said the infant mortality rate has fallen dramatically from about 122 deaths per 1,000 live births during the 1952–1955 period to 14 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the 2023 Population and Family Health Survey.

The total fertility rate also declined from 5.6 children per woman aged 15–49 in 1990 to 2.6 children in 2023. The department attributed part of this decline to the increase in the average age of first marriage for women, which reached 27.5 years in 2024, reflecting changing childbearing patterns.

The department said higher educational attainment among women has been one of the main social factors contributing to lower fertility levels, while economic factors have also played a role. Jordan's adjusted economic participation rate reached 14.8 percent in 2025.

In education, Jordan has made substantial progress, with the literacy rate improving significantly. Illiteracy among Jordanians declined from 16.7 percent in 1991 to 4.5 percent in 2025, while 43.8 percent of Jordanians have attained at least a secondary education, according to the 2025 Labour Force Survey.

Globally, the DoS cited United Nations projections indicating that the world's population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050, and exceed 10.4 billion by 2100 under the medium-growth scenario.

//Petra// MF