Spanish
The preliminary figures for the monthly economic activity indicator (IMAE) show an accumulated average growth of 4.0% during the first four months of 2026, higher than the 2.7% of the same period of the previous year.
In particular, in April the IMAE recorded a year-on-year variation of 3.8%, above the 1.7% exhibited in April 2025.
It is important to highlight that this result has been within the framework of an international context characterized by high uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have increased transportation costs and oil prices, affecting the global economy and reducing global growth expectations.
The behavior exhibited by the economy during the January-April 2026 period is mainly due to the year-on-year expansion of the real value added of the mining sector (10.7%), construction (4.6%), free zone manufacturing (3.7%), local manufacturing (3.6%), agriculture (2.7%) and the activities of the services sector as a whole (4.4%), with education (6.7%), financial services (6.2%), hotels, bars and restaurants (5.9%), health (5.7%), transportation and storage (4.9%) and other market service activities (4.6%) standing out among the latter.
The construction sector showed an average year-on-year variation of 4.6% in January-April 2026, however, there was a decrease of 1.8% in the month of April of this year. The performance of the first four months was mainly driven by the development of commercial and tourism projects with private capital, as well as the continuation of residential works that were in progress. It should be noted that credit to the construction sector registered a year-on-year growth of 26.1% as of April 2026.
Regarding the performance of other industrial activities during the January-April 2026 period, mining registered a year-on-year variation of 10.7%, associated with higher volumes of gold and silver extraction. Free zone manufacturing exhibited a year-on-year growth of 3.7%, a result that is reflected in exports in US$ under this regime, which increased by 4.3% compared to the same period of the previous year. Similarly, local manufacturing grew by 3.6%, supported by the behavior of the production of alcoholic beverages, the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products and the production of other substances and chemical products.
Regarding the added value of hotels, bars, and restaurants, this showed a year-on-year variation of 5.9%, which largely responds to the management carried out by the Ministry of Tourism with promotional campaigns aimed at maintaining high-participation issuing markets and encouraging the diversification of the origin of visitors. As a result, the arrival of non-resident passengers via air through the different airports of the country exceeded 2.6 million tourists in January-March 2026, with the month of March standing out, which received for the first time more than 900 thousand passengers via air.
Likewise, financial intermediation, insurance, and related activities experienced a year-on-year growth of 6.2%, reflecting the expansion of 9.3% of credit directed to the private sector in national and foreign currency, equivalent to an additional RD$216 billion compared to April 2025.
Finally, it is important to highlight that the Central Bank continues to monitor the performance of the Dominican economy in a complex international environment, where high levels of uncertainty prevail due to geopolitical tensions. This context has led to a new negative supply shock, evidenced by the increase in international prices of oil and its derivatives. Under these circumstances, monetary policy, along with internal financial conditions, remains focused on safeguarding price stability, thus contributing to the preservation of adequate macroeconomic conditions.
