- Preliminary figures indicate that this result is in line with year-end projections, which forecast that foreign direct investment (FDI) will exceed US$4.5 billion.
- Tourism and energy stand out with the highest investments.
The Central Bank (BCRD) reported that preliminary figures for the first half of 2024 show that FDI reached US$2.374.3 billion, an increase of 0.9% compared to the same period last year.
These flows reflect the confidence of foreign investors in the Dominican Republic as a destination for their investments, a country that has been the second-largest recipient of FDI in the region since 2022, behind Mexico, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
This result is consistent with year-end projections that FDI will exceed US$4.5 billion, it states.
Tourism and Energy
The sectorial distribution shows that more than half of the FDI inflows were directed towards the tourism and energy sectors. It is important to highlight the evolution of the energy sector, which increased its share of FDI from 7.5% in the first half of 2019 to 25.5% in the first six months of 2024, mainly due to incentives from the Dominican government aimed at renewable energies. Another significant sector for FDI has been real estate, which is linked to the country’s tourism development, particularly after recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The institution notes that in addition to the increase in FDI flows (0.9%) and remittances (4.4%), the Dominican economy achieved total exports of over US$6.8 billion in the first half of 2024, a 2.3% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Among exports, there was a 10% increase in gold exports, driven by improvements in production and historic price levels for the precious metal in international markets. Of the total exports, free zone exports amounted to nearly US$4.2 billion, increasing 6.6% year-on-year, which suggests that the sector may close the year with record export figures.
Furthermore, the BCRD reports that tourism revenues between January and June totaled approximately US$5.7 billion, about US$700 million (14.1%) above revenues for the same period in 2023. This result was mainly due to the increase in tourist arrivals during the first half of the year, which reached 5.3 million visitors, including both air travelers and cruise passengers.
It is noted that foreign exchange earnings generated from FDI, remittances, tourism, goods exports, and other services totaled approximately US$21.9 billion from January to June 2024. This represents an increase of US$1.327 billion compared to the same period in 2023, contributing to the relative stability of the exchange rate. All indicators suggest that by the end of the year, the country is expected to receive foreign exchange earnings of around US$43 billion.
These flows reflect the confidence of foreign investors in the Dominican Republic as a destination for their investments. Since 2022, the country has been the second-largest recipient of FDI in the region, behind Mexico, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
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