The trade deficit, which represents the difference between imports and total exports, increased to 3.875 billion dinars ($5.474 billion) between January through June, from 3.495 billion dinars in the same period of 2009, the Department of Statistics said.

Economists attributed the widening trade gap mainly to an 8.7 percent expansion in imports, which stood at 7.095 billion dinars in the first six months of 2010, compared with 6.527 billion dinars in the same period of last year.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s main supplier of crude oil, topped the list of exporters to the Jordanian market, followed by China, the United States and Germany.

Jordan’s imports from the European Union countries grew by 4 per cent and from Germany by 16.2 per cent in the first half of the year, to 1.479 billion dinars and 493 million dinars respectively, the Department of Statistics said.

The Department also reported a 6.8 per cent increase in Jordan’s exports and re-exports in the first six months of the year, to 3.238 billion dinars from 3.032 billion dinars in the same period of 2009.