Dominican Republic Economy 2001

Economy - overview: The Dominican 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 ten percent enjoy 40% of national income. In December 2000, the new MEJIA administration passed broad new tax legislation which it hopes will provide enough revenue to offset rising oil prices and to service foreign debt.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $48.3 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 8% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,700 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 11.3%
industry: 32.2%
services: 56.5% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 25% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 39.6% (1989)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.9% (2000 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: 13.8% (1999 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.3 billion
expenditures: $2.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $867 million (1999 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 8% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 7.29 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 87.19%
hydro: 12.4%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.41% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 6.78 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

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

Exports: $5.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats

Exports - partners: US 66.1%, Netherlands 7.8%, Canada 7.6%, Russia 7.4%, UK 4.5% (1999 est.)

Imports: $9.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Imports - partners: US 25.7%, Venezuela 9.2%, Mexico 4%, Japan 3%, Panama 2.6% (1999 est.)

Debt - external: $4.7 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $239.6 million (1995)

Currency: Dominican peso (DOP)

Currency code: DOP

Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US dollar - 16.888 (January 2001), 16.415 (2000), 16.033 (1999), 15.267 (1998), 14.265 (1997), 13.775 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Dominican Republic on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Dominican Republic Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Dominican Republic Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.