Spanish
Santo Domingo.- Economist Daniel Toribio warned that the Dominican Republic closed 2025 with a worrying turn compared to Central America: it went from leading the regional growth to lagging behind, while food inflation continued to strongly pressure low-income households.
Toribio pointed out that, according to the comparative performance, in 2025 several countries in the region grew close to 4% or more, while the Dominican economy slowed to 2.1%, a slowdown that is reflected in employment, sales and expectations.
In terms of prices, he recalled that although overall inflation closed at 4.95% within the target range, the figure that weighs on daily life is the composition: food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 8.19%, hitting hardest households that allocate a larger part of their income to buying food.
“You can say ‘we are within’ the meta range, but the grocery store adjusts first and the real salary loses strength. The goal does not console when the dish becomes more expensive,” said Toribio.
Key points of the analysis:
- • 2025 Growth: 2.1% in the Dominican Republic, below the performance of several Central American countries
- • 2025 Inflation: 4.95% in the Dominican Republic, without the relief seen in other economies with low or negative inflation
- • Food: 8.19% in 2025, with impact concentrated in lower-income households
- • Vulnerability: high labor informality amplifies the blow, because it limits wage adjustments and reduces savings capacity
Call for concrete measures
Toribio argued that public discussion should shift from celebrating averages to managing the factors that make life more expensive. He proposed specific actions:- • More competition and effective market supervision
- • Reduction of logistics costs
- • Clear rules and fiscalization in distribution chains
- • Focus on productivity to sustain real wages
"Low growth and expensive food push poverty. If the structure that makes life more expensive is not corrected, the country will continue to lose the advantage it built since 1996 without gaining what matters: living with less pressure," he concluded.
