Spanish
Santo Domingo.– The Dominican Republic has set a historic precedent by reaching USD 1,448.6 million in exports during the month of March of this 2026, which represents a year-on-year increase of 20.7% and an absolute variation of USD 248.9 million compared to the same month of 2025, positioning itself as the highest value recorded in the analyzed period for national exports.
The export rebound was mainly led by raw gold at 78.2%, a figure that represents more than USD 110.8 million additional. Likewise, other key items were circuit breakers with USD 17.4 million additional, tobacco, with absolute growth of USD 16.5 million, and instruments and medical devices with an absolute variation of USD 12.3 million.Main business partners
Regarding business partners, the United States remained the main destination, concentrating a little more than half of the total exported value, with USD 731.3 million. Canada is in second place with exports of USD 201.1 million and a share of 13.88%; its year-on-year growth was 150% for an absolute increase of USD 120.6 million, mainly driven by exports of raw gold. While Haiti occupies third place with exports of USD 129.2 million, representing a share of 8.92% and a growth of 36.4%, with an absolute variation of USD 34.5 million additional.We recommend reading:Executive Branch reactivates the plan to regulate lottery and gambling banks
The list of the top five trading partners is completed by Puerto Rico (USD 55.4 million) and China (USD 51.9 million).
Main Exported Products
The main product exported by the Dominican economy in March 2026 was raw gold, representing 17.1% of the total exported, equivalent to USD 247.1 million. In terms of importance, it was followed by medical instruments and apparatus with a participation of 8.78% and a value of USD 127.2 million. In third place were "pure" cigars, which represented 6.39% of the total exported, reaching a value of USD 92.5 million.
Export Regime
Regarding the export modality, Free Zones continued to be the main pillar, with a contribution of USD 841.2 million which, in terms of participation, represented 58.07 % of the total exported. The National Regime showed a notable jump of 45.6 %, and contributed with 41.93 % of total exports in March 2026. In this dynamism, the five main exporting provinces are Santo Domingo, San Cristóbal, Sánchez Ramírez, Santiago and the National District. When evaluating the accumulated figures for the first quarter of 2026, growth remains strong with a total of USD 3,736.9 million exported, which represents an increase of 18.3% compared to the same period of the previous year.Foreign Direct Investment
In parallel, the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) during the year 2025 serves as a fundamental basis for understanding the current productive capacity, a period in which the country captured USD 5,032.8 million, equivalent to an interannual growth of 11.3%. The tourism sector consolidated as the main recipient of these capitals, followed by the energy and real estate sectors. At the same time, a greater diversification is evident, driven by the strong growth of mining (+580.5%), as well as by the dynamism in commerce and industry (+33.6%) and energy (+11.2%). These investments come mainly from Spain and the United States.Economic Growth Perspectives
Regarding the projected average economic growth (%) for Latin America and the Caribbean for the current year (2026), the Dominican Republic is the first country with highest average growth projected of GDP, according to a report from the World Bank.
