Smaller
BiggerTourism solidifies role as Dominican Republic’s main economic driver
Santo Domingo.- In 2024, the Dominican Republic’s foreign exchange earnings continued to be driven primarily by tourism and remittances, which together accounted for 54.2% of the total, according to the Central Bank. This marks a 0.7 percentage point increase from 2023, reinforcing a trend seen in recent years.
Tourism led with a 27.4% share, reflecting a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels and underlining the country’s growing reliance on the sector. Remittances followed closely, contributing 26.8%, despite a slight year-over-year decline of 0.5 percentage points. The figure remains above pre-pandemic averages.
Other sources saw weaker performance. Free trade zone exports made up 21% of earnings, showing a slight dip from 2023. Domestic exports dropped to just 13.6%, continuing their decline from over 20% a decade ago. Foreign direct investment reached 11.3%, one of its highest levels in the past decade, though it still plays a minor role in the overall composition.
This is bad
Diversify more, there is a great need to expand other sectors of the economy to support the country when tourism takes a hit. The pandemic proved how the great dependency on tourism revenues and the lack thereof took the country to the edge of financial disaster.
The country should funnel some of the large reserves of tourism revenues to advance other sectors of the economy.
The Dominican Republic has tremendous potential in sectors like logistics, mining, and exports. We should invest in these industries more and work towards diversifying our economy so we don’t continue relying so heavily on such a volatile sector like tourism.