Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been on a constant rise. The CPI has recently increased from 331.34 in December 2009 to 352.01 in December 2010.

Base, January 1999 = 100

(Source: Central Bank)

Money supply

 

Money supply (DOP million)
	March 2010	March 2011
M1	159,210.64	146,469.22
Currency	60,865.68	52,186.42
Broad money (M2)	569,511.44	555,870.34

(Source: Central Bank)

Government expenditure

(Source: Statistics)

The government expenditure in 2009 amounted to DOP 328,999.39 million, compared to DOP 300,889.21 million in 2008.

Official exchange rate

The average exchange rate in 2010 was 36.8, compared to 35.92 in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank)

Government finances

 Fiscal balance

The country has recorded fiscal deficit for the past five years. The fiscal deficit in 2009 amounted to DOP 102,795 million, compared to DOP 53,980 million in 2008,.

(Source: Statistics)

Total revenue

The total revenue rose till 2008. However, in 2009 the revenue declined from DOP 246,909 million to DOP 226,204 million.

(Source: Statistics)

Tax revenue

The total tax revenue increased from DOP 329,826 million in 2008 to DOP 330,703 million in 2009.

(Source: Statistics)

Current account balance

The current account deficit in 2010 amounted to USD 4,434.9 million, compared to USD 2,330.9 million in 2009.

p = projected

(Source: Central Bank)

Balance of Payments

Balance of Payments (USD Million)
	2010	2009
Current Account	-4,434.9	-2,330.9
Capital and Financial Account	4,488.7	2,865.9
Errors and Omissions	4.0	-129.0
Overall Balance	57.8	406.0

(Source: Central Bank)

The total labour force participation rate in 2010 was 55% of the total population. The participation rate for males and females was recorded at 67.8% and 42.4% respectively.

The total employment rate was 47.1% for the year 2010.

(Source: Central Bank)

Unemployment rate

The total unemployment rate in 2010 was 14.3%. The unemployment rate for males was 9.8% and 21.4% for females.

(Source: Central Bank)

(Source: Central Bank)

Minimum wage

The minimum wage in the country is DOP 5,000 (USD 158) per month.

The country’s labour minister convened a meeting of the National Wages Committee in March 2011 to discuss an increase in minimum wages.

(Source: dominicantoday)

Level of Unionisation

The major trade union in the country include:

• Autonomous Trade Union Confederation Clasista (CASC)
• National Confederationof Dominican Workers (CNTD)
• National Confederationof Trade Union Unity(CNUS)

(Source: ICFTU)

The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy with national powers distributed among the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The President of the country is the head of the government and also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and police.

(Source: oas.org)

The country’s parliament, known as the Congress of the Republic, is bicameral. Parliament is divided into the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies consists of 183 directly elected members, while the Senate consists of 32 directly elected members.

(Source: IPU)

The major political parties in the country include:

• Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC)
• Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD)
• Dominican Liberation Party (PLD)

(Source: fco.gov)

Regulatory environment

The country’s economic freedom score is 60, making it the 90^th freest economy in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. Dominican Republic ranks 18^th out of the 29 regional countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region.

(Source: Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Dominican Republic is ranked 101^st on this list, which indicates that the corruption levels in the public departments in the country are fairly high.

The country has slipped in CPI rankings, as it was ranked 99^th in the 2009 index.

(Source: transparency.org)

Freedom of information

The country is ranked at 97^th in the World Press Freedom Index with a score of 26.13, which indicates that media in Dominican Republic is restricted.

(Source: rsf.org)

Freedom of press and media is guaranteed by law. However, certain subjects such as the Church and the army are avoided.

The major newspapers in the country include:

• El Caribe
• Hoy
• Listin Diario
• El Nacional
• Diario Libre

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The judicial system in Dominican Republic includes the following courts:

• The Peace Courts
• Courts of First Instance
• Appeals Courts
• Supreme Court of Justice

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. It consists of a judge elected by the President of the Republic, four lawmakers and two members. The court hears appeals from the lower courts, and also resolves the jurisdictional conflicts between the courts or judges of other departments.

(Source: oas.org)

The Caribbean Court of Justice is the regional judicial tribunal of the Caribbean community and hears the appeals in both civil and criminal matters of the states in the Caribbean community.

(Source: caribbeancourtofjustice.org)

Population

The total population in 2010 is estimated at 9,884,371; an increase of 7.13% over 2005 population.

The male population in 2010 was 4,935,282 and the females were 4,949,089. Females comprised 50.07% of the total population.

(Source: Statistics)

Gender Ratio

In 2009, there were 101 males per 100 females in the country indicating a balanced gender ratio in the country. (Source: UN)

In 2010, the population under 14 years was recorded at 3,111,233 comprising 31.48% of the total population. The population aged above 60 years was recorded at 844,996 comprising8.55% of the total population.

(Source: Statistics)

Birth Rate

In 2008, the crude birth rate was 23 births per thousand people and the crude death rate was 6 deaths per thousand people.

(Source: World Bank, World Bank)

Average life expectancy rate

The average life expectancy at birth during 2005-210 was 69.8 years for males and 75.3 years for females. (Source: UN)

Urbanisation

The urban population in 2010 was recorded at 6,572,893 as compared to 6,420,260 in the previous year. The urban population grew by 13% in the period 2005 to 2010. In 2010, the urban population comprised 66.5% of the total population.

(Source: Statistics)

Ethnicity

The ethnic groups in Dominican Republic include Europeans, African origin and others. Majority of the population, about 95%, follows Roman Catholic.

(Source: state.gov)

Human Development Index

Dominican Republic is ranked 88^th out of 169 countries in Human Development Index 2010 with a value of 0.663. It indicates an average level of human development in the country. The Human Poverty Index focuses on the proportion of people below certain threshold levels in each of the dimensions of the human development index - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living.

(Source: UNDP)

Literacy rate

The total adult literacy rate in the period 2005 to 2008 was registered at 88%. The youth literacy rate for the period 2004 to 2008 for males and females was recorded at 95% and 97% respectively.

(Source: UNICEF)

Education resource

About 13% of the central government expenditure was incurred on education. The number of students enrolled at the beginning of the school year was 2,564,055 in which 1,281,771 were males and 1,282,284 were females. The country had 13,313 schools in 2003-04, of which 11,174 were public schools. The students enrolled for higher education in 2007 was recorded at 363,706.

(Source: Statistics, Statistics, Statistics, UNICEF)

Healthcare

In 2008, about 10% of the central government expenditure was incurred on health. In 2009, there were about 47 provincial hospitals, 96 municipal hospitals and specialised hospitals. There were about 1,363 healthcare centres and 48 sub-centres. There were about 838 clinics in the urban areas. The number of hospital beds in 2009 was 10,082.

(Source: Statistics, UNICEF)

Roadways are the primary mode of public transport in the country. Hence, citizens use buses or public cars for transport.

Ports

The major ports in the country include Caucedo, Port of Rio Haina, Port of Santo Doming, Port of Arroyo Barril, Port of Barahona, Port of Boca Chica, Port of Catalina Island, Port of La Romana, Port of Puerto Plata and Port of San Pedro de Macoris.

(Source: worldportsource)

Airports

The various airports in the country include:

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

In 2010, there were 3 million internet users.   However, the internet penetration rate has declined from 31.1% in 2009 to 30.5% in 2010.

(Source: internetworldstats)

The number of fixed telephone lines in Dominican Republic declined from 902,300 in 2004 to 965,400 in 2009, registering a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 1.4%. The fixed telephone line usage declined from 9.61 per 100 inhabitants in 2004 to 9.57 per 100 inhabitants in 2009.

(Source: ITU)

However, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions rose from 2,534,100 in 2004 to 8,629,800 in 2009, registering a CAGR of 27.8%.

(Source: ITU)