A sovereign state sharing its northern coast with the North Atlantic Ocean and its southern shores overlapping the Caribbean Sea, the Dominican Republic shipped US$11.93 billion worth of exported products around the globe in 2023.

That dollar amount results from an 18.4% increase from $10.1 billion five years earlier in 2019.

Year over year, the total value of goods exported from the Dominican Republic fell -3.7% compared to $12.4 billion during 2022.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Dominican peso depreciated by -9.5% against the US dollar since 2019 and diluted by -1.8% from 2022 to 2023. The Dominican Republic’s weaker local currency makes exports from the Dominican Republic paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.

By value, the Dominican Republic’s top 3 most valuable export products are electro-medical equipment including xrays, unwrought gold, then the cigars or cigarettes product category. Added together, that trio of major exports account for almost one-third (31.2%) of the Caribbean island’s overall shipments in 2023.

Dominican Republic’s Top Trading Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 89% of products exported from Dominican Republic was bought by importers in: United States of America (60% of the Dominican total), Haiti (7.2%), Switzerland (6.8%), India (3.1%), Netherlands (2.9%), mainland China (2.4%), South Korea (2%), Germany (1.2%), Jamaica (0.93%), Belgium (0.89%), United Kingdom (0.8%) and Spain (also 0.8%).

From a continental perspective, 61.0% of Dominican Republic’s exports by value was delivered to North American countries while 15.2% was sold to importers in Europe. Dominican Republic shipped another 14.2% worth of goods to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.

Smaller percentages went to customers in Asia (9.3%), Oceania (0.2%) mostly Australia and New Zealand, then Africa (0.1%).

Given the Dominican Republic’s population of 10.72 million people, its total $11.93 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $1,120 for every resident in the Caribbean nation–the third largest populated country in the Caribbean. That dollar metric lags the average 1,170 per capita one year earlier for 2022.

Dominican Republic’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Dominican global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Dominican Republic.

1. Gems, precious metals: US$1.9 billion (15.9% of total exports)
2. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $1.6 billion (13.1%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $1.24 billion (10.4%)
4. Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $1.21 billion (10.2%)
5. Plastics, plastic articles: $675.8 million (5.7%)
6. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $658 million (5.5%)
7. Pharmaceuticals: $605.4 million (5.1%)
8. Iron, steel: $491.2 million (4.1%)
9. Fruits, nuts: $362.4 million (3%)
10. Cocoa: $210.9 million (1.8%)

The Dominican Republic’s top 10 exports accounted for almost three-quarters (74.7%) of the overall value of its global shipments.

Pharmaceuticals represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 24.7% from 2022 to 2023.

In second place for improving export sales was knitted or crocheted clothing and accessories, recording a 20.7% advance.

Dominican Republic’s shipments of optical, technical and medical apparatus posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 9.5%.

The leading decliner among Dominican Republic’s top 10 export categories were the metals iron and steel, pulled down by a -37.5% year-over-year drop.

The product groups listed above are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.

Drilling down to the more detailed four-digit HTS codes, the Dominican Republic’s most valuable exported product in 2023 was electro-medical equipment including xrays (12.7% of the country’s global total). In second place was unwrought gold (9.8%) trailed by cigars and cigarettes (8.7%), lower-voltage switches or fuses (7.6%), jewelry (5.4%), sutures and special pharmaceutical goods (4.4%), knitted or crocheted t-shirts and vests (4.2%), iron ferroalloys (2.7%), miscellaneous items made from plastic (1.7%), then bananas and plantains (also 1.7%).

Products Generating Dominican Republic’s Best Trade Surpluses

The following types of Dominican product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: US$1.2 billion (Up by 4.2% since 2022)
2. Gems, precious metals: $1.1 billion (Down by -32.3%)
3. Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $585.7 million (Down by -6.8%)
4. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $501 million (Up by 25.6%)
5. Fruits, nuts: $232 million (Down by -11%)
6. Cocoa: $166.8 million (Down by -10.3%)
7. Ores, slag, ash: $90.7 million (Up by 67.4%)
8. Footwear: $29.9 million (Down by -32.9%)
9. Milling products, malt, starches: $23.7 million (Down by -26.6%)
10. Sugar, sugar confectionery: $10.7 million (Down by -89%)

The Dominican Republic has notably positive net exports in the international trade optical, technical and medical apparatus, as well as gold under the gems and precious metals category. In turn, these cashflows indicate Dominican Republic’s strong competitive advantages under both product categories.

Products Causing Dominican Republic’s Largest Trade Deficits

The Dominican Republic racked up an overall -US$19.4 billion trade deficit for 2023, expanding by 10.4% from the -$17.6 billion in red ink one year earlier during 2022.

Below are exports from the Dominican Republic that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Dominican Republic’s goods trail Dominican importer spending on foreign products.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$5.7 billion (Up by 33.1% since 2022)
2. Vehicles: -$2.6 billion (Up by 13.2%)
3. Machinery including computers: -$2.3 billion (Down by -1%)
4. Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.5 billion (Down by -14.8%)
5. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.1 billion (Up by 145.7%)
6. Articles of iron or steel: -$691.8 million (Down by -13.1%)
7. Cereals: -$665.8 million (Down by -16.3%)
8. Paper, paper items: -$596.9 million (Down by -16.2%)
9. Meat: -$544.8 million (Up by 2.7%)
10. Iron, steel: -$465.3 million (Down by -18.6%)

The Dominican Republic incurred highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels including oil category. Red ink flowed most freely for petroleum gases, refined petroleum oils, crude oil and coal.

Dominican Export Companies

Not one Dominican corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.

Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from the Dominican Republic. Selected examples are shown below.

• Barceló Export Import (alcoholic beverages)
• Brugal & Cía. (alcoholic beverages)
• Cervecería Nacional Dominicana (brewery)
• Cervecería Vegana (brewery)
• Grupo Corripio (conglomerate)
• Grupo León Jimenes (brewery)
• Industrias Nacionales (construction materials)
• J. Armando Bermúdez & Co. (alcoholic beverages)
• MATASA (cigars)
• Servicios Aéreos Profesionales (airliner)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Dominican Republic’s total exported goods represent 4.4% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($273.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 4.4% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 4.8% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Dominican Republic’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short time period.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Dominican Republic’s unemployment rate averaged 6.2% for 2023, up from an average 5.293% in 2022 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.

Dominican Republic’s capital city is Santo Domingo, officially named Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

See also Honduras Top 10 Exports, Guatemala’s Top 10 Exports, Costa Rica’s Top 10 Exports, El Salvador’s Top 10 Exports and Panama’s Top 10 Exports

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on August 26, 2024

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 26, 2024

International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on August 26, 2024

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 26, 2024

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 26, 2024

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 26, 2024

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on August 26, 2024

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Dominican Republic. Accessed on August 26, 2024

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on August 26, 2024