Official report: Tourism and free trade zones show growth in December 2023

Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development released the “Panorama Sectorial” report for December 2023, highlighting positive performances in tourism and free trade zone exports during the past year.

The report specifies that the arrival of non-resident foreigners by air reached 682,691 tourists in December 2023, for an interannual increase of 17.3%, equivalent to 100.6 thousand additional tourists. Throughout 2023, the arrival of tourists by air reached 6.7 million, which is equivalent to an accumulated interannual variation of 15.9%.

Regarding manufacturing, the real value of the demand for manufactured products reached RD$1,345,243.1 million at the end of the year, a value 0.6% higher than that registered the previous year. However, in December it stood at RD$109,413.3 million, for an interannual reduction of 0.3%.

Real exports from free trade zones showed an interannual increase of 11.7% in December 2023. In contrast, exports and local manufacturing operations, in real terms, showed interannual reductions of 17.9% and 2.2%, respectively.

In the accumulated year 2023, real exports from free trade zones stood at RD$311,250.0 million, for an increase of 1.2%, compared to January-December of the previous year. While real exports of local manufacturing showed an accumulated reduction of 17.9% in 2023 compared to the previous year, after reaching RD$65,552.5 million at the end of the year.

The report also indicates that the value of agricultural exports was US$47.1 million in December 2023, equivalent to an interannual reduction of 9.3%. At the end of the year, accumulated agricultural exports totaled US$784.0 million, for an interannual variation of -6.3%.

Regarding the construction sector, the direct cost index for the construction of housing (ICDV) stood at 220.4 in December 2023, for a monthly variation of 2.4% and an accumulated variation of -1.8%.

In December 2023, a total of 2,300,030 workers were registered as active in the Dominican Social Security System (SDSS), which translates into an accumulated variation of 1.3%, compared to December 2022. The number of formal jobs registered an increase of 1.2% compared to December 2022. In turn, multiple employment showed an interannual decrease of 1.2%.

Regarding salaries, the global index of personnel and remunerations showed an interannual increase of 6.5 points, going from 103.6 to 110.1. In this period, the global index of active workers in the economic sectors showed an expansion of 1.3%, while the global index of salaries in the economic sectors, in real terms, increased to a greater extent (7.7%). This translates into an average real salary higher than that observed in December 2022.

For more information, see the full report “Panorama sectorial” published by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development.