GDP Archives - Guzmán Ariza | The Dominican Republic Law Firm

Shopping Sector Grows 18% a Year

A recent Deloitte Consulting study presented by the National Organization of Shopping Centers (ONEC) shows that the commercial sector has the largest share of the services subsectors in the Dominican economy. Over the past eight years, the sector has had an 18% annual average growth. In 2015, trade represented 9.5% of the GDP. Total sales were RD$2.9 billion in 2014, of which 4.4% (RD$129.66 billion) was sold by ONEC members, says the study.

The study also found that trade represents 30% of loans to business, up 5% compared to 2013. The subsector employs on average 15% of the total labor force, with 291,369 employees with an average hourly wage of RD$80.91 or around RD$3,500 a week.

[October 2015]

Central Bank: Economy Shows 7.5% Growth

Central Bank governor, Hector Valdez Albizu, said that the economy showed economic growth of 7.5% in July despite the significant 10.6% fall in the growth of exports, compared to last year.

Valdez highlighted the 6.5% accumulated growth of GDP for January-July, low accumulated inflation of 1.17%, an US$18 million surplus in the government Current Account, international reserves sufficient to cover 3.3 months of imports, record highs in tourism figures, good performance of remittances, free zone sector, farm exports and foreign direct investment.

Valdez Albizu said that July’s most dynamic economic sectors were mining with 33.8% growth and construction with 16.4% growth. He added that both the public and private construction sector invested mainly in low-cost housing solutions, highway infrastructure, school buildings and hospitals. He also mentioned financial growth of 13.1%, commerce 9.8% and local manufacturing was 6.9% among other areas of growth.

[September 2015]

Tourism grew 7.5 % in 2014

The Central Bank reports that tourism growth of 7.5 % of GDP in 2014 was 3.6 % greater than in 2013. The Central Bank attributes the growth of the sector to a 9.6 % increase in non-resident passenger arrivals. There was also a 3.1 % increase in the national hotel room inventory, with 2,060 new rooms added this year. The Central Bank says that tourism receipts increased by 11.3 %, with tourism contributing an estimated US$5.64 billion to the economy in 2014.

[February 2015]

Dominican Public Debt is Lowest in Caribbean

At a recent talk, Scotiabank vice president Pablo Breard highlighted the fact that the Dominican public debt is the lowest among Caribbean countries in the past decade. The Dominican global debt is around 30% of GDP, he stated. Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago have higher debt/GDP ratios. Breard forecast that the DR would benefit from the global economic recovery.

[May 2013]