5.4% of people in Jordan aged 60 and older — official data

AMMAN — There are around half-a-million people aged 60 and older in Jordan, representing 5.4 per cent of the population, according to an official report. 

Jordan’s total population is around 9.5 million; the number of Jordanians is around 6.6 million, while the number of non-Jordanians who reside in the country is around 2.9 million, representing 30.6 per cent of the overall population, according to the results of the national census conducted late last year. 

The Department of Statistics (DoS) said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Thursday that a total of 513,000 people aged 60 and older live in the Kingdom. 

The report was released by DoS on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons. The department said it considers those 60 and over as older persons in the Kingdom. 

Amman hosts the largest number of elderly residents, with 6.2 per cent, followed by Ajloun in the north and Karak in the south (5.3 per cent). 

Only 3.3 per cent of older persons live in the southern governorate of Aqaba, according to official data. 

Life expectancy rates are 74.3 years for women and 72.9 years for men, DoS said. 

Illiteracy among the category of old people reached 33.4 per cent, while 23.3 per cent among both genders had been widowed, said the report, indicating that the ratio of those currently married among the elderly was 73.1.

DoS said 62.6 per cent of older persons suffer visual impairment, 45.6 per cent have hearing difficulties and 71.7 per cent complain of mobility impairment.