Ranking: These are the poorest places in the Dominican Republic

In the first quarter of this year, the Dominican economy grew 5.7% thanks to sectors such as construction, energy and water, financial intermediation, mining, tourism, transportation, public administration, and other service activities, according to the Central Bank.

However, this has not prevented some Dominican provinces from remaining immersed in poverty when their Human Development Index (HDI) is taken into account. The HDI is an indicator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) that measures the level of development of each country through variables such as life expectancy, health, education or per capita income.

The provinces of the Dominican Republic that have a lower HDI are those with low scores in the indexes evaluated by UNDP.

This ranking presented by the Economy and Business section of the Daily Listin with the information of the 2016 Interactive Map of the UNDP could be a surprise for those who at first glance think that the two most developed provinces in the country are the National District and Santiago or the localities that live in sectors such as tourism.

What was taken into account?

To determine the HDI, UNDP used these three indicators in the country: life expectancy, as a measure of a long and healthy life; the years of schooling for adults over 25 years of age, and the expected years of schooling as a measure of the education dimension; and gross national income per capita as a measure of opportunities to access assets to have a decent standard of living.

Here is the classification in low, medium-low, medium-high and high levels according to the living conditions of the residents of the 32 provinces that make up the Dominican Republic.

Color codes

Red = Lowest Level

Yellow = Medium Low Level

Brown = Medium High Level

Green = High Level

Low level (Where there is more poverty and less Human Development Index)

1. Elías Piña

2. Flint

3. Independence

4. Bahoruco

5. The Seibo

Medium Low Level (Medium Poverty)

6. Santo Domingo

7. Monte Plata

8. Azua

9. Barahona

10. The Altagracia

11. Peravia

12. San Cristobal

13. Monte Cristi

14. Samana

15. Valverde

16. Espaillat

17. Dajabón

18. San Juan de la Maguana

19. Hato Mayor

20. María Trinidad Sánchez

21. La Romana

22. Puerto Plata

23. Sánchez Ramírez

24. La Vega

25. Santiago Rodríguez

26. Santiago

27. San Pedro de Macorís

Medium high level (There are opportunities to progress)

28. San José de Ocoa

29. Monsignor Nouel

30. Mirabal sisters

31. Duarte

High level (“Most affluent”)

32. National District