Poverty in Dominican Republic decreased from 26.7% in 2016 to 21.8% in 2020, below the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) average of 26.3%. Extreme poverty decreased in that period from 7.0% to 5.6%, also below the LAC average (8.7%). The Gini index decreased from 45.7 in 2016 to 39.6 in 2020, below the LAC average (45.3). Regarding environmental indicators, in 2019 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita were 3.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO2e), lower than the averages for LAC (6.3) and countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (9.1). That year, the share of the population exposed to air pollution levels that pose risks to human health (PM2.5 at more than 10 µg/m3) was 100%, higher than 95.4% for LAC and 61.0% for the OECD. The marine protected area of the Dominican Republic accounted for 18.0% of its territorial waters in 2021, compared to 7.3% for LAC and 18.6% for the OECD. On the fiscal side, environmentally related tax revenue was 1.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, above LAC (1.0%) but below the OECD (2.1%). Total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP (12.6%) remains much lower than the averages for LAC (21.9%) and the OECD (33.5%).
Latin American Economic Outlook 2022
Dominican Republic
1. Recent trends
2. Long-term development policies for a green transition
The Dominican Republic ranks as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world. The National Council for Climate Change, established in 2008, is responsible for formulating, implementing, and enforcing climate change policies and projects. The Strategic Plan for Climate Change 2011-2030 aims to decarbonise the economy and improve capacity to adapt to climate change. The National Policy for Climate Change (Decree 269-15, approved in 2016) is a transversal policy to manage climate variability, incorporate adaptation within the National Development Strategy 2030 and favour low-carbon development. More recently, the Climate Change and Gender Action Plan of 2018 aims to integrate gender equality into mitigation and adaptation policies.
Within the Dominican Republic’s mitigation efforts, the Ministry of Environment is implementing the Plan de Movilidad Urbana Sostenible del Gran Santo Domingo, financed by the European Union, and developed under the MobiliseYourCity initiative. The plan includes the creation of the first Urban Sustainable Mobility Observatory in 2022. In 2018, the Dominican Republic set a ten-year public-private association with the Blue Finance to co-administer the marine protected area of Arrecifes del Sureste, with financing from the Sustainable Ocean Fund. Among the country’s adaptation policies, the National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change 2015-2030 aims to reduce the country’s vulnerabilities. The Technological Institute of Santo Domingo is working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to engage local communities and academic institutions to build resilience within urban environments. The Ministry of Agriculture launches contingency plans every year to act to minimise negative impacts of climate change events.
Regarding international partnerships within the region, the country is working on capacity-building programmes for air quality management, environmental impact assessment, and solid waste and marine litter management within the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement. It also takes part in an ecosystem-based adaptation project in the Central American Dry Corridor and the Arid Zones of the Dominican Republic, with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Beyond LAC, the Dominican Republic is the third country to have signed (in 2021) an agreement with the World’s Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility to receive payments for actions to reduce GHG emissions from deforestation. The National Strategy to Strengthen Human Resources and Skills to Advance towards Green Development, with Low Emissions and Climate Resilience (2012) was created through a partnership with the United Nations Climate Change Learning Partnership.
Concerning green finance, the public-private BanReservas bank created the Program of Green Finance, which promotes the financing of sustainable energy and agroecologist projects. In 2022, the Ministry of Environment, the Securities Superintendence of the Dominican Republic, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed an agreement to develop the Dominican Republic Green Taxonomy.
Key indicators – Dominican Republic
|
|
Dominican Republic |
LAC |
OECD |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Social |
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
|
Extreme poverty |
7.0 |
5.6 |
8.1 |
8.7 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Poverty |
26.7 |
21.8 |
25.9 |
26.3 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Share of Internet users (% of population) |
63.9 |
76.9 |
53.7 |
68.1 |
81.8 |
88.0 |
|
|
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2019 |
|
Gini index |
45.7 |
39.6 |
46.3 |
45.3 |
34.9 |
34.2 |
|
|
2010 |
2018 |
2009 |
2018 |
2009 |
2018 |
|
Share of total population in informal households (%) |
N/A |
N/A |
43.4 |
36.3 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Share of total population in informal households, upper-income quintile (%) |
N/A |
N/A |
24.5 |
13.6 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Share of total population in informal households, lower-income quintile (%) |
N/A |
N/A |
70.4 |
72.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
|
2016 |
2019 |
2016 |
2019 |
2016 |
2019 |
|
Health expenditure (% of GDP) |
5.8 |
5.9 |
6.5 |
6.8 |
8.7 |
8.8 |
|
SIGI index |
N/A |
18.2 |
N/A |
25.4 |
N/A |
17.5 |
|
|
2015 |
2018 |
2015 |
2018 |
2015 |
2018 |
|
PISA score in science |
332 |
336 |
411 |
407 |
489 |
487 |
|
Productivity and innovation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2016 |
2021 |
2016 |
2021 |
2016 |
2021 |
|
Labour productivity (% of the United States) |
29.6 |
30.8 |
29.0 |
26.6 |
69.9 |
67.2 |
|
|
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
|
High-tech exports (% of manufactured exports) |
4.5 |
8.8 |
8.4 |
7.2 |
16.5 |
16.2 |
|
|
2016 |
2019 |
2016 |
2019 |
2016 |
2019 |
|
R&D expenditures (% of GDP) |
N/A |
N/A |
0.3 |
0.4 |
1.8 |
2.0 |
|
Citizens’ perceptions and institutions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2016 |
2021 |
2016 |
2021 |
2016 |
2021 |
|
Share of population satisfied with efforts to preserve the environment (%) |
60.3 |
55.3 |
46.2 |
42.0 |
55.3 |
51.2 |
|
Share of population with confidence in national government (%) |
54.9 |
57.5 |
34.2 |
39.4 |
40.3 |
46.3 |
|
Share of population that thinks corruption is widespread throughout government (%) |
64.9 |
60.1 |
74.5 |
70.0 |
59.0 |
54.9 |
|
Share of population satisfied with the education system (%) |
81.0 |
71.8 |
64.9 |
54.3 |
67.0 |
66.8 |
|
Share of urban population satisfied with the availability of quality health care (%) |
56.8 |
65.1 |
49.2 |
48.9 |
68.2 |
69.5 |
|
Environment and the green transition |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2004-19 |
|
2004-19 |
|
2004-19 |
|
|
Loss of natural and semi-natural vegetated land (%) |
1.7 |
|
1.5 |
|
1.3 |
|
|
|
2016 |
2019 |
2016 |
2019 |
2016 |
2019 |
|
GHG emissions per capita excluding LUCF (t CO2e) |
3.6 |
3.9 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
9.6 |
9.1 |
|
Air pollution – exposure to PM2.5 (annual average exposure to more than 10 µg/m3, % of population) |
100 |
100 |
95.5 |
95.4 |
61.3 |
61.0 |
|
|
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2019 |
2016 |
2020 |
|
Contribution of renewables to total primary energy supply (%) |
11.4 |
11.0 |
34.2 |
33.4 |
19.7 |
22.9 |
|
|
2016 |
2021 |
2016 |
2021 |
2016 |
2021 |
|
Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) |
9.1 |
18.0 |
2.5 |
7.3 |
16.5 |
18.6 |
|
Fiscal position |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
|
Environmentally related tax revenue (% of GDP) |
1.8 |
1.4 |
1.1 |
1.0 |
2.4 |
2.1 |
|
Total tax revenues (% of GDP) |
13.1 |
12.6 |
22.2 |
21.9 |
33.6 |
33.5 |
|
Share of VAT (% GDP) |
4.6 |
4.4 |
5.8 |
5.6 |
6.6 |
6.7 |
|
Share of PIT (% GDP) |
1.2 |
1.3 |
2.1 |
2.2 |
7.8 |
8.3 |
|
Share of CIT (% of GDP) |
2.0 |
2.0 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
|
Perception of tax evasion (%) |
N/A |
27.9 |
N/A |
27.3 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Debt service (% of total tax revenue) |
19.4 |
25.8 |
11.3 |
13.0 |
5.6 |
5.2 |
|
|
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2020 |
2016 |
2019 |
|
Social expenditure (% of GDP) |
7.7 |
12.3 |
11.5 |
13.6 |
20.0 |
19.9 |
Note: See the Reader’s Guide for definitions and sources.