OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine the possible association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) and to shed light on the epidemiology of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in Jordan. METHODS We examined 100 consecutive cases of HL for the presence of EBV in tumor cells by immunohistochemistry for latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1). We collected patient data on age, sex and histologic subtype. We reviewed the pathological findings in each case and confirmed diagnosis. RESULTS Nodular lymphocyte predominant HL was diagnosed in 6% of the cases and these were negative for EBV LMP-1. Of the 94 cases of cHL, 65% were males, the most common subtype was nodular sclerosis (NS), representing 70% of the cases, and 45.7% of cHL (43% of all HL) cases were positive for EBV LMP-1. The positive cases were significantly related to age: ⩽15 years and >51 years (p: 0.009 and 0.014 respectively), male gender (p: 0.03) and mixed cellularity (MC) subtype (p: <0.0001). In line with other developing countries, there also appears to be a trend towards a decreasing association of EBV with cHL and a subtype switch from MC to NS in Jordan. CONCLUSIONS The epidemiology of HL in Jordan and some developing countries is approaching that of developed countries.