Jordan's supermarket shelves are stacked with everything from local produce to seaweed rolls for sushi. In the streets of Amman, traffic has been heavier than usual, with people making last-minute shopping trips before Eid Al Fitr.
With no sign of the Iran war ending, the government says reserves of staple foods and other imported goods can last for months. Jordan has intercepted more than 200 Iranian drones and missiles, but has so far avoided the worst of the bombardment.
However, the war's full impact on the kingdom's economy may still be to come, in the form of higher consumer prices and reduced supplies, according to sources in the private sector. In the past week, the government announced measures to try to cushion the rising costs of imports.
“The war risk premiums are huge,” said one of Jordan's largest food importers, who has seen service to the Red Sea port of Aqaba stopped by one of two shipping lines he depends on. “This not only increases prices for the consumer. The importer will be more reluctant to bring in large volumes.”
The importer, who specialises in rice and tea, told The National that the Wan Hai shipping line had stopped delivering containers to Aqaba. The cost of a container on the other line, Pacific International, from the Far East to Aqaba, has soared from $1,500 to $6,000 in the past two weeks.
Jordan is widely regarded as a bastion of stability in the turbulent Levant. But the war comes against the backdrop of a 15-year economic stagnation and a tighter grip by the authorities on domestic affairs since the Gaza war. Inflation rose to 2.2 per cent last year from 1.6 per cent in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Last year, the government banned the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing the group of complicity in a weapons manufacturing scheme aimed at creating instability in the kingdom, which has been ruled by the Hashemite monarchy since it was founded as a British protectorate in 1921. The country is dependent on US aid and has a defence pact with Washington. Its $29 billion in annual imports are more than double its exports, which consist mainly of potash and phosphate.
Some goods rising in price are Jordanian products finding an expanded market in the Gulf because of supply disruptions there. Tomatoes have risen from the equivalent of 15 cents to $1 per kg. Aubergines and cucumbers have doubled to $1.25 per kg and $1.08 per kg, respectively.
“Everyone is trying to find an intermediary to sell his produce to the Gulf,” said Ali Khairallah, a farmer in the northern governorate of Jerash. Farmers are expecting sharp rises in the prices of fertilisers and animal feed, as well as diesel, the mainstay fuel for agriculture, he said.
At the beginning of each month, the government decides on the price of fuels, which are taxed at 45 per cent. A litre of petrol costs $1.15 per litre, while diesel costs 92 cents per litre.
Government spokesman Mohammad Al Momani said the war has already cost the government $210 million, mainly to import extra diesel and fuel oil. The government switched to these fuels to power electricity and other plants that normally ran on Israeli gas. Israel halted its gas exports to Jordan and Egypt shortly after the war erupted, citing security reasons.
“The alternatives have been costly,” Mr Al Momani said He said the government has sought to cushion the expected price hikes by waiving taxes on the extra costs that importers have started to incur as a result of the war. Monopolies granted to the Aqaba port have also been lifted to allow imports through regional ports such as the Syrian port of Latakia on the Mediterranean, he said.
Jordan, Mr Al Momani said, is “in the eye of the storm”, and that despite rising costs, “what is more important is to make sure that different goods continue to reach the market”.
