Ministry of Economy reports increase in Exports and Tourism

Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Development released the “Sectoral Panorama” report for April 2024, highlighting significant growth in agricultural and manufacturing exports and tourism for the first four months of the year.

Agricultural Exports

• In April, agricultural exports reached US$111.3 million, a 59.5% year-on-year increase.
• From January to April, total agricultural exports were US$290.9 million, up 11.7% compared to the same period last year.
• Key contributors to this growth were raw tobacco, cocoa beans, and eggs.

Manufacturing Exports

• The real value of demand for manufactured products in April was RD$116,425.3 million, a 12.9% year-on-year increase.
• Cumulative demand for January-April was RD$449,866.6 million, up 6.9% from the previous year.
• Local manufacturing operations reached RD$317,490.2 million, increasing 5.8% year-on-year.
• Free zone manufacturing exports were RD$106,545.3 million for January-April 2024, an 11.7% increase.

Tourism

• Non-resident foreign tourist arrivals in April 2024 were 608,131, a 3.5% year-on-year increase.
• From January to April, tourist arrivals totaled 2.6 million, an 11.6% increase.
• The majority of tourists were from the US (39.5%), followed by Canada (17.5%), Colombia (4.0%), Argentina (3.2%), France (3.1%), Puerto Rico (2.5%), the UK (2.1%), and Brazil (2.1%).

Trade and Transportation

• In April, trade activity totaled RD$144,528.3 million, an 8.7% year-on-year decrease.
• January-April trade operations amounted to RD$610,696.6 million, down 6.6%.
• The total transportation operations index was 133.1 points, equivalent to RD$18,496.3 million, a 2.2% decrease year-on-year.
• January-April transportation operations were RD$72,828.1 million, a 6.5% decrease.

Financing and Employment

• In April, the real outstanding balance for productive sectors was RD$799.4 billion, a 20.2% year-on-year increase.
• Employment figures for January-March 2024 showed 4,941,183 employed people, a 3.6% increase year-on-year.
• The global personnel and remuneration index rose by 6.2 points, from 94.0 to 99.9.
• The index of active workers in economic sectors grew by 3.5%, while the salary index in real terms increased by 10.0%, indicating higher real average salaries compared to the first quarter of 2023.