If you’re feeling a bit crowded, it’s because by the end of October, Jordan’s population will have reached 10 million people.

The figure was released by the Department of Statistics, which revealed that the Kingdom’s population went up by 199,000 people in 2017.

The Jordanian Women’s Solidarity Association Institute (Tadamon) noted that the number of Jordanian and non-Jordanian residents increased by 239,000 people in 2016, according to a survey by the Department of Statistics.

Location

Almost 75% of the total population live in three of the Kingdom’s 12 Governorates: Amman (42%), Irbid (18.6%) and Zarqa (14.3%).

Accommodation

In 2015, the department said that there were 2.35 million homes in Jordan, 83.6% of which were apartments.

Heating

Also in 2015, the number of homes without any central heating registered at 5.9%.

In the cold winter days, 46.8% of people used gas heaters, 28.5% used kerosene heaters, 7.4% used electric heaters, 5% used firewood and coal, 4.7% used central heating and 1.1% used air conditioning.

With the economy showing no immediate signs of recovery, and with water and other sources and resources running scarce, shouldn’t family planning be on top of every family’s to-do list?

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition