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Country analysis

Jordan

Jordan hosts the second-highest share of refugees per capita in the world. The country of 11 million hosts more than 660,000 registered Syrian refugees, but the actual total, considering those unregistered, is estimated at around 1.3 million.

Over 19,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria are also registered in Jordan. Around 82% of the Syrian refugees live outside camps in urban, periurban, and rural areas of Amman, Irbid, Mafraq, and Zarqa governorates. The remaining live in Za’atari and Azraq camps, respectively hosting around 80,000 and 40,000 Syrian refugees. Refugees in Jordan are in need of humanitarian assistance and face particular challenges accessing health services, shelter, and livelihoods.

83% of Syrian refugees outside camps in Jordan live below the poverty line, making them highly dependent on humanitarian aid. Almost one-third of refugee households received threats of eviction in 2022.  Around 90% of refugee families resort to using harmful coping strategies to meet basic needs, such as reducing non-food expenses, selling productive assets, cutting meals, engaging in child labour, or entering their children in an early marriage.

While the majority of Syrian refugees hope to eventually return to Syria, only a few are planning to do so in the near future. The key factors stopping them from returning are a lack of livelihood opportunities, safety, and security, as well as inadequate housing in their areas of origin.

(UNHCR accessed 31/01/2023, Gov’t Germany/Gov’t Jordan 14/02/2021, UNHCR 26/03/2021, 3RP 09/01/2023, ECHO 12/05/2022)

Jordan hosts the second-highest share of refugees per capita in the world. The country of 11 million hosts more than 660,000 registered Syrian refugees, but the actual total, considering those unregistered, is estimated at around 1.3 million.

Over 19,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria are also registered in Jordan. Around 82% of the Syrian refugees live outside camps in urban, periurban, and rural areas of Amman, Irbid, Mafraq, and Zarqa governorates. The remaining live in Za’atari and Azraq camps, respectively hosting around 80,000 and 40,000 Syrian refugees. Refugees in Jordan are in need of humanitarian assistance and face particular challenges accessing health services, shelter, and livelihoods.

83% of Syrian refugees outside camps in Jordan live below the poverty line, making them highly dependent on humanitarian aid. Almost one-third of refugee households received threats of eviction in 2022.  Around 90% of refugee families resort to using harmful coping strategies to meet basic needs, such as reducing non-food expenses, selling productive assets, cutting meals, engaging in child labour, or entering their children in an early marriage.

While the majority of Syrian refugees hope to eventually return to Syria, only a few are planning to do so in the near future. The key factors stopping them from returning are a lack of livelihood opportunities, safety, and security, as well as inadequate housing in their areas of origin.

(UNHCR accessed 31/01/2023, Gov’t Germany/Gov’t Jordan 14/02/2021, UNHCR 26/03/2021, 3RP 09/01/2023, ECHO 12/05/2022)

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Latest updates on country situation

29 March 2023

12 years since the onset of the Syrian refugee crisis in 2011, living conditions for the nearly 1.3 million Syrian refugees in Jordan remain precarious. More than half of these refugees live in poverty, and one fifth are food-insecure.


In the last quarter of 2022, more than 80% of refugee households were in debt, with most of them borrowing money from friends and neighbours to cover basic needs, such as food and rent. Also in 2022, around 90% of refugee households used at least one negative coping mechanism, such as reducing non-food expenses and withdrawing children from school.


As at January 2023, around 80% of refugees lived outside camps in poor housing, and shelters in camps remained inadequate and unsafe. In the last three months of 2022, around 34% of refugee households had difficulty in paying rent, and 26% received eviction notices. Livelihood, food security, shelter, and protection assistance are some of the key priorities for Syrian refugees in Jordan.
(UNHCR 26/02/2023, UNHCR/WB 13/03/2023, UNHCR 26/02/2023, OCHA 30/06/2022, UNHCR accessed 29/03/2023, 3RP 09/01/2023)

current crises
in Jordan

These crises have been identified through the INFORM Severity Index, a tool for measuring and comparing the severity of humanitarian crises globally.

Read more about the Index

JOR002 - Syrian refugees

Last updated 30/08/2023

Drivers

Displacement

Crisis level

Country

Severity level

3 Medium

Access constraints

2.0

REG004 - Syrian Regional Crisis

Last updated 28/06/2023

Drivers


Crisis level

Regional

Severity level

4.2 Very High

Access constraints

4.0

Analysis products
on Jordan

Jordan: Syrian refugees - political and financial dynamics

24 August 2016

Jordan: Syrian refugees - political and financial dynamics

DOCUMENT / PDF / 481 KB

Refugees fleeing political turmoil and armed violence in Syria began to arrive in Jordan in 2011. As of 19 August 2016, there are 656,042 registered Syrian refugees, 78.5% of whom are living in urban areas. Most refugees have been in Jordan for years: the largest influx from Syria to Jordan was in 2012 and 2013, with 176,020 and 301,620 refugee arrivals, respectively.

DisplacementEconomyMixed migration
Syria Needs Analysis Project: Jordan

23 January 2014

Syria Needs Analysis Project: Jordan

DOCUMENT / PDF / 2 MB

This paper outlines the social and economic situation in Jordan by explaining the causes of the significant underlying vulnerabilities and by exploring how these issues have been compounded by the crisis in Syria and the subsequent population influx.

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