Jordanian pharmaceuticals, from local to global
Over the past two decades, the Jordanian pharmaceutical industry has been able to transform from a local industry into a global one renowned for great quality and competitiveness.
The Jordanian pharmaceutical industry began with a small factory in the city of Salt in 1962. But over years of diligent work and achievements, Jordanians have proven their ability to reach a prominent position in an industry whose capital is scientific knowledge and gaining consumers’ trust.
At the beginning of this century, His Majesty King Abdullah II devoted his attention to this industry in an effort to move towards self-reliance, open up to global markets, and achieve pharmaceutical security for the Kingdom.
The Jordanian pharmaceutical industry has quadrupled since 2000, and its added value in 2022 reached about JD830 million, constituting more than 51 per cent of its total existing production. This reflected positively on its contribution to the national economy, reaching 3 per cent of the gross domestic product. Jordan’s pharmaceutical products are now available in 70 countries around the world. Jordan is the only country in the region that exports more than it imports in this sector, exporting 80 per cent of its pharmaceutical production annually, accounting for approximately 6 per cent of the Kingdom’s total industrial exports.
Over 98 per cent of the pharmaceutical sector’s workforce are Jordanians, with female employees making up 37 per cent of total employees in the sector.
The sector proved its pivotal role during the COVID pandemic, with Jordan easily being able to cover the explosion in demand for sterilisers and masks, as well as other pharmaceutical and medical supplies, unlike many countries around the world.
The Economic Modernisation Vision (2022-2033) proposed 11 initiatives for the pharmaceutical industry to increase exports to JD2.1 billion by 2033. The vision also aims to increase the value added of the pharmaceutical industry to around JD1.7 billion, increase the number of workers in the sector to 16,000, and attract investments worth JD1.1 billion within 10 years to transform Jordan into a regional hub for pharmaceutical products.
