AMMAN, Jordan, 13th October 2026 — Even though many food prices have witnessed a drop in prices bringing some solace to the Jordanian consumer, two common things—rent and transportation—are causing the costs of living to rise, showing the unbalanced pressures on household accounts.
As per the data from the Jordanian Department of Statistics and reported by the Jordan News Agency, the inflation rate in Jordan reached 2.26% for the first nine months of 2026, compared with the same period in 2025. According to the data released on 12 October, in only September consumer prices rose 2.73% compared to September in 2025, while the Consumer Price Index showed a much smaller rise of only 0.16% from the previous month, August 2026.
The statistics show a distinction that matters for consumers, and that is, a small monthly increase does not indicate that prices are close to what they were before. Inflation, instead, indicates how prices evolve. Hence, consumers can continue paying more in the future despite a small rise in any month.
The factors contributing to the inflation numbers are as follows:
Rent has been found to be the largest contributor to inflation during the first nine months of 2026 since it contributed 0.72 percentage points to the total rate. Transportation has been the second largest, with a contribution of 0.66 percentage points. Oils and fats contributed 0.27 percentage points, while tobacco and cigarettes have made 0.17 percentage points.
In September, the pattern is the same, but transportation is at the top. It contributed 1.13 percentage points to inflation in a year, with rent in second place having made a 0.76 percentage point contribution, and oils and fats being third with a 0.29 percentage point contribution.
These numbers illustrate the fact that the burden of housing and transportation remains especially high even if different food categories get cheaper from period to period.
Minor victory ideally experienced in the shopping cart
Not every category has increased. In September, deflation in the prices of fruits and nuts brought the inflation rate lower by as much as 0.21% as compared to the previous month, while vegetables and legumes alone accounted for a drop of 0.18%. The impact of the price changes in dairy products and eggs was slightly lower, amounting to 0.04%.
The Consumer Price Index of Jordan is a mixture of 850 goods and services divided into food (325 items) and non-food (525 items). A sample of 3,400 establishments gathers the price statistics for the Consumer Price Index of Jordan (Source: Petra, 13 September 2026).
So, what’s next?
Jordan’s inflation of 2.26% indicates that price pressures were moderate in the first nine months of 2026. However, the analysis for September suggests that the headline number is misleading: discounts on some products can be offset by increases in housing and transport costs.
Households should care less about rising or falling inflation and more about which expense categories take up more of their monthly income.
