The Dominican Republic's economy will grow 12.3% in 2021

By 2022, the Central Bank estimates that the GDP of the Dominican Republic, with a population of about 10.5 million, will increase between 5.5% and 6.0% afp_tickers

This content was published on Feb 02 2022 – 03:09

(AFP)

The Dominican Republic’s economy closed out 2021 with a growth of 12.3% in gross domestic product, the central bank reported Tuesday.

“Real GDP reached a remarkable year-on-year growth of 12.3% in the period from January to December 2021,” a statement issued by the entity read.

The text adds that the GDP growth amounted to 4.7% in 2021 compared to 2019, “which reflects a real revitalization of the Dominican economy, rather than a statistical recovery, unlike the case of many Latin American economies, whose levels of economic activity will rise. They do not exceed those existing before the pandemic.

The central bank attributes this economic performance to the growth recorded by the hotel, bars and restaurants sector (39.5%). Construction (23.4%), Free Zone Manufacturing (20.3%), Transportation and Storage (12.9%), Trade (12.9%), Local Manufacturing (10.6%), Energy and Water (6.0%), in addition to other service activities (6.4%) .

While the inflation rate reached 8.5% at the end of 2021, it was “affected as in the rest of the world by shocks of external origin that are more persistent than expected,” according to the text.

The report highlights the results of tourism, which entered 5680.6 million dollars, equivalent to a growth of 112.5% compared to 2020, “a faster recovery than expected.”

It also highlights remittances, especially from the United States (83.2%), which in 2021 reached the “historic” figure of $10402.5 million.

If the economic performance of the Dominican Republic during 2021 is compared with the latest GDP forecast published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the Latin America region, this result places the country as the best performing country in real terms compared to pre-pandemic levels.

By 2022, the Central Bank estimates that the GDP of the Dominican Republic, with a population of about 10.5 million, will increase between 5.5% and 6.0%.