- The country’s economy expanded by 5.0% in 2024
- The services sector as a whole grew by 5.5%
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported yesterday that the Dominican economy maintained strong performance in 2024, standing out as a leader in the sector in Latin America.
It explained that the real gross domestic product (GDP) registered a 5.0% increase in 2024 compared to 2023.
The country’s economic results occurred in an environment of price stability, with year-on-year inflation remaining within the lower bound and the center of the target range of 4.0% ± 1.0% throughout the year, closing 2024 at 3.35%, the lowest annual variation of the consumer price index (CPI) in the last six years.
Regarding the year-on-year core inflation indicator, which is more closely related to monetary policy as it excludes goods and services with volatile or regulated prices, it stood at 4.01%, remaining around the central target set by the Central Bank.
Through its preliminary report, the Central Bank indicated that, when analyzing the evolution of economic activity throughout 2024, the real quarterly GDP expanded at year-on-year rates of 4.5%, 6.1%, 5.1%, and 4.1%, respectively, in the four quarters of the recently concluded year.
“This trajectory is consistent with the lags in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy in a context of dollar appreciation in international markets, especially in the second half of 2024. In this regard, active liquidity management at the domestic level was influenced by the behavior of external interest rates, particularly in the United States, where monetary conditions remained in restrictive territory,” the institution explained.
Fastest growing sectors
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD), the sectors that contributed the most to the average 5.0% expansion of real GDP in 2024 were led by the services sector as a whole, which grew by 5.5%. Within this sector, the standout performers were:
- Hotels, bars, and restaurants: 9.6%
- Financial services: 8.3%
- Energy and water: 7.0%
- Transport and storage: 5.7%
- Commerce: 5.5%
Dominican tourism
The report specifies that, in particular, the added value of the hotels, bars, and restaurants sector recorded a year-on-year variation of 9.6% by the end of 2024.
This sector’s growth was largely driven by the arrival of 8.5 million tourists by air. Additionally, 2.6 million cruise passengers arrived through the country’s various ports.
By combining air tourists and cruise passengers, the country reached a historic record of 11.2 million non-resident visitors in the past year.
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