Dominican Republic has 570,933 mostly Haitian immigrants

Santo Domingo.- There were 570,933 immigrants in the Dominican Republic as of 2017, 5.6% of the country’s total population.

According to the National Survey of Immigrants (ENI 2017), 497,825 were born in Haiti, or 87.2%, while the remaining 73,108 immigrants were born in other countries.

Economy minister Isidoro Santana presented the report, and noted that the number of immigrants in the Dominican Republic increased by 46,300 people in the last five years, an average of 9,260 per year.

“The increase was basically due to Haitian and Venezuelan immigration, motivated by labor causes,” the official said, adding that around 80% are 15 to 45 years of age.

The survey found that the number of immigrants born in Haiti jumped by 39,592 in the last five years, from 458,233 in 2012 to 497,825 in 2017, for a growth of 8.6% in five years.

Moreover, the number of Venezuelans in the country skyrocketed  by more than 653% in the same period, from 3,434 in 2012 to 25,872 in 2017.

Santana said immigration from other nations also grew insignificantly.