LIBERTAD (God,
Fatherland, Liberty), and below the shield, REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
appears on a red ribbon

Economy Dominican Republic

Economy - overview:
The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean representative democracy
which enjoyed GDP growth of more than 7% in 1998-2000. Growth
subsequently plummeted as part of the global economic slowdown.
Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter
of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector
has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to
growth in tourism and free trade zones. The country suffers from
marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population
receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys
nearly 40% of national income. Growth turned negative in 2003 with
reduced tourism, a major bank fraud, and limited growth in the US
economy, the source of 87% of export revenues. Resumption of a badly
needed IMF loan was slowed due to government repurchase of
electrical power plants.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $52.71 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
-0.7% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $6,000 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10.7%
industry: 31.5%
services: 57.8% (2003)

Investment (gross fixed):
19.9% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
25%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 37.9% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
47.4 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
27.5% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
2.3 million - 2.6 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 17%, industry 24.3%, services and government 58.7%
(1998 est.)

Unemployment rate:
16.5% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.601 billion
expenditures: $3.353 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.1
billion (2003 est.)

Public debt:
59.4% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes,
corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs

Industries:
tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles,
cement, tobacco

Industrial production growth rate:
2% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production:
9.186 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
8.543 billion kWh (2001)

Electrici