AMMAN -- Jordan was placed among the worst countries to age in on the Global AgeWatch 2013 report and ranked 88th in the overall index with only Pakistan, Tanzania and Afghanistan below it.
The Global AgeWatch Index ranked 91 countries around the world by how well their ageing populations are faring based on four factors: income, health, employment and education, and enabling environment.
According to the report, Jordan has a relatively small proportion of senior citizens, as they constitute less than 6 per cent of the total population, which currently stands at around 6.5 million.
Although the overall ranking of Jordan was in the bottom of the index, the country scored high in the enabling environment domain and stood at number 36 out of the 91 countries included in the ranking.
In this domain, the report said that in Jordan, 79 per cent of the people aged over 50 have relatives or friends they can count on when in trouble.
As for physical safety, 83 per cent of people over 50 feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where they live. With regard to civic freedom, which was included as part of the enabling environment, the report said that 68 per cent of people in the same age group are satisfied with the freedom of choice in their life.
In addition, 48 per cent of Jordanians of that same category are satisfied with the local public transportation system.
As for the income indicator, Jordan came in 61st place among the countries covered by the report.
In this domain, only 33.2 per cent of people over the age of 65 are receiving a pension, according to the index.
The report said 4.6 per cent of people aged 60 and above have an income of less than half the country's median income.
In the health indicator, the Kingdom stood at number 61 out of 91, as people aged 60 can expect to live for another 19 years, while the average number of years a person aged 60 can expect to live in good health is 15.
Jordanians who are 65 and above enjoy free medical health insurance at the Kingdom's public hospitals.
Jordan was ranked 91st, the bottom of the index, in the education and employment domain, with under a quarter of the older population being employed or having secondary or higher education.
Sweden was ranked as the best country to grow old in.
The Global AgeWatch Index was developed and constructed by HelpAge International from international data sets drawn from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, UNESCO and the Gallup World Poll.
According to the HelpAge website, the organisation benefited from a global advisory panel of more than 40 independent experts in ageing, health, social protection and human development.
"Currently the shortage of data on older people is systematically excluding them from development plans and public policy provision," the organisation said.
© Jordan Times 2013
