Dominican Republic shows a high level of economic inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

After at least four international reports stating that the Dominican Republic would have the “strongest” or highest growth of its gross domestic product (GDP) during 2023, a recurring question would be: “where is that economic development?” The answer could lie in the richest 1% of the country. This is stated by the World Inequality Database (WID), which every year publishes a report on how wealth is distributed in the world. According to recent data, the Dominican Republic has the highest rate of economic inequality in Latin America. Only 1% of the population earns about 30% of the national income. This is the highest rate in the region, although it is a common factor throughout Latin America. Together with Peru and Mexico, they concentrate between 25% and 30% of the profits.

In general, the poorest 50% of the Latin American population receives 10% of the income, while the richest 10% receives 55% in the region. In fact, the richest 1% capture 25% of the national income of their countries, compared to 18% in the United States. This is a reality that everyone seems to be aware of. “The Dominican Republic is the country of comparisons where the 1% of people with the highest incomes receive the highest proportion of gross national income, 30.5%, with a participation that exceeds between 2 and 5 percentage points to that of Mexico, Chile and Brazil”, pointed out at the time the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Pavel Isa Contreras. 

A report prepared between the Government, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal), and the World Inequality Lab, details that the 10% of the Dominican population with the lowest income receive less than 1% of the national income, while the 10 % of higher-income receives more than half, with 55%. In fact, the study classifies as “high” the levels of participation of the top 1% and 10% in the distribution of national income. More specifically, it indicates that the top 1% receives 30% of income. When that range is widened, the top 10% earn around 40%.

In the rest of the distribution, that is, in the 90% with the lowest income, the opposite effect is observed to that established for the 10% with the highest income. Indeed, according to the report, the participation of the bottom 50% of income is approximately 17% of the total.