The economic debate in Jordan is usually concerned with issues of unemployment, growth, and public debt, but there are significant economic losses that do not receive sufficient attention because they are not measured directly in official indicators, most notably lost time. Jordan is not only losing because of the unemployed, but it is also losing millions of unproductive hours within the Jordanian labor market itself, which are silent but ongoing and costly losses.

Available data indicate that the number of workers in Jordan is approximately 2.6 million. If we assume, with a great deal of reservation, that each worker wastes only one hour per day due to administrative procedures, waiting, or repeat transactions, the picture becomes clearer. With an average worker’s production estimated at about 7 dinars per hour, this wasted hour means a loss of approximately 18.5 million dinars per day for the Jordanian economy. Over the course of a full working year, the loss amounts to about 4.8 billion dinars annually, or approximately 9% of the gross domestic product, without this number appearing in public budgets or being discussed as a direct economic cost. Comparing this percentage with developing countries, the cost of wasted time in Jordan falls within the highest category, although the size of the economy allows it to be reduced quickly if time is treated as an economic resource rather than an administrative detail.

From an economic standpoint, time is an essential element of production in the Jordanian economy, no less important than capital or labor. Countries that succeeded in raising their productivity did so not only by creating new jobs, but also by reducing the time required to complete work. International studies indicate that improving the efficiency of procedures can raise the productivity of middle-income economies by between 1% and 3% of GDP, which are percentages capable of making a tangible difference in an economy the size of the Jordanian economy.

The lost time is directly related to the concept of Jordan’s economic competitiveness. Competitiveness is not measured only by the size of the economy or its financial stability, but rather by the state’s ability to efficiently transform its resources into actual production. When procedures are long, approvals are multiple, and decision-making is delayed, this reflects a weakness in the efficiency of institutions and business dynamism, even if the laws are good in terms of text. This reflects Jordan’s ranking of forty-seventh globally in the Competitiveness Index for the year 2025, as the main challenge remains the speed of implementation, not legislation.

When looking at the practical reality in Jordan, the problem becomes clearer, as it is not due to a lack of competencies or a weak desire to work, but rather to a time-consuming procedural environment. The multiplicity of entities, overlapping powers, and slow digital transformation, in addition to the culture of “acceptable routine,” are all factors that turn time into a permanent economic cost. This waste appears in simple daily details, such as the length of company registration procedures, the multiple approvals required to obtain a single license, or the delay in completing transactions that, in essence, only require one administrative decision.

Although the Jordanian government has launched initiatives in recent years to simplify procedures and digital transformation, dealing with time is still mostly administrative rather than economic. The service is often transferred from the counter to the screen without completely redesigning its route, or without measuring the completion time as a cost that affects growth and productivity, which limits the impact of reforms and keeps the loss outside the actual economic calculations.

In conclusion, it is not possible to talk about improving competitiveness, attracting investment, or raising productivity in Jordan without seriously dealing with time as a national wealth and not an administrative detail. An economy that wastes its time limits its ability to grow through its daily decisions, while an economy that improves time management expands opportunities for production, investment, and competitiveness. Time management is not a matter of administrative organization, but rather an economic choice that reflects the state’s seriousness in using its resources and its ability to transform potential into tangible and sustainable results.