Economy of the Domincan Republic

Economy - overview:

The Dominican Republic's economy experienced dramatic growth over the last decade, even though the economy was hit hard by Hurricane Georges in 1998. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoy nearly 40% of national income. Growth probably will slow in 2003 with reduced tourism and expected low growth in the US economy, the source of 87% of export revenues.

GDP:

purchasing power parity - $53.78 billion (2002 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

4.1% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 11%
industry: 34%
services: 55% (2001)

Population below poverty line:

25%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 37.9% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

47.4 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

5.3% (2002 est.)

Labor force:

2.3 million - 2.6 million

Labor force - by occupation:

services and government 58.7%, industry 24.3%, agriculture 17% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate:

14.5% (2002 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $2.9 billion
expenditures: $3.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.1 billion (2001 est.)

Industries:

tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco

Industrial production growth rate:

2% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production:

9.186 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 92%
hydro: 7.6%
other: 0.4% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:

8.543 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:

129,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:

NA (2001)

Oil - imports:

NA (2001)

Agriculture - products:

sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs

Exports:

$5.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)

Exports - commodities:

ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods

Exports - partners:

US 85%, Canada 1.6%, UK 1.6% (2002)

Imports:

$8.7 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)

Imports - commodities:

foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Imports - partners:

US 51.5%, Venezuela 9.6%, Mexico 5.1%, Spain 4% (2002)

Debt - external:

$4.8 billion (2002 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

$239.6 million (1995)

Currency:

Dominican peso (DOP)

Currency code:

DOP

Exchange rates:

Dominican pesos per US dollar - 18.61 (2002), 16.95 (2001), 16.42 (2000), 16.03 (1999), 15.27 (1998)

Fiscal year:

calendar year