Jordan Strategy Forum launches prosperity index

AMMAN – The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) has launched the Jordan Prosperity Index (JPI), measuring the well-being of the Jordanian society and the quality of life in the Kingdom between 2007 and 2014.

The index, according to JSF Chairman Omar Razzaz, is the first of its kind at the national level. It assesses three main pillars: income, living environment and human capital development. 

The initiative, Razzaz said, aims to help policy makers and stakeholders in tracing the Kingdom’s performance in these areas, evaluate the impact of internal and external factors and draw up policies for improvement.

The launch of the index on Thursday was attended by dozens of economists, decision makers, journalists and private sector representatives. 

Each of the three main pillars includes a number of sub-pillars that evaluate Jordan’s performance in specific sectors, according to the study of the JSF, which indicated, for example, that the sub-pillars incorporated under income are: macro-economy, investment, income distribution and trade.

The living environment pillar measures the largest number of indicators as it covers environment, energy, transport, infrastructure, water, private sector governance, public sector governance, democracy and safety.

The human capital development pillar comprises labour-market, education and innovation, healthcare, gender and leisure. 

According to the JPI, results reflect a general improvement in Jordan’s performance along the living environment pillar, in addition to a stable performance along the human capital development pillar and a decline in the results of the income pillar. 

For the construction of the index, 2007 was used as a base year and was allocated 100 points for overall prosperity, while each pillar was also given 100.0 points. 

The study said that prosperity had reached its highest level in 2008 as it reached 103.3 points, while its lowest level was in 2012 at 98.7 points.

In 2014, overall prosperity hit 100 points, maintaining the same level in 2013. 

“Many scientists and academics criticise gross domestic product [GDP] as being a quantitative indicator for well-being of the country as economic growth may not necessarily lead to prosperity,” Razzaz said, adding the JSF developed the index to measure progress in the standards of living in Jordan beyond the GDP. 

Eman Al Araj, senior researcher at JSF, said indicators comprising the JPI were chosen based on an extensive literature review, as well as a review of local and international indices, adding that the data utilised for the purposes of the index is derived from official local and international sources. Araj added that the structure of the index allows for different levels of analysis, as every main pillar incorporates a number of sub-pillars that asses specific aspects of living in the country. 

The JSF is a non-for-profit organisation, which represents a group of Jordanian private sector companies.