Dominican exports achieve 18 consecutive months with historical records
In the first 7 months of 2022 they reached US$7,388.9 million according to the DGA.
Exports of goods continue to exhibit excellent results, as shown by the volume exported during the January-July 2022 period, which reached US$7,388.9 million, thus experiencing a positive growth of 10.8%, compared to the same period of 2021 and 28.2% with respect to the pre-pandemic year 2019, according to data from the Directorate General of Customs (DGA).
In monthly terms, July 2022 exports totaled US$1,072.1 million, showing a year-on-year growth of 10.1% with respect to July 2021. Similarly, this value represents a 23.4% growth compared to July 2019, positioning this July 2022 as the month with the highest value exported in the Dominican Republic.
Exports directed to the US market are positioned as the destination with the highest absolute growth in exports for the period January-July 2022, with an increase of US$314 million additional to the amount exported during the same period of 2021, which is equivalent to a year-on-year growth of 9.2%. This market is followed by Haiti, with absolute growth of US$157 million and a relative year-on-year variation of 30.2%.
Other markets showing significant growth in terms of amounts and a positive year-on-year variation are: China with US$84 million (77%), Puerto Rico US$57 million (16%), South Korea US$52 million (379%), Canada US$44 million (156%), United Arab Emirates US$44 million (748%), Spain US$19 million (45%), Jamaica (23.89%), among 89 other destinations that presented increases in their purchase volumes of our products in the period analyzed.
In turn, the products that explain this growth were basically: Medical instruments and apparatus, which were positioned with the highest absolute growth in the analyzed period, thus accumulating an absolute growth of US$123 million additional. Likewise, ferronickel is among the products that lead the growth of Dominican exports in the period analyzed, representing a total of US$107 million additional to the previous year.
Also standing out for their absolute growth in the period are: Jewelry articles and their parts with absolute growth of US$71 million, tableware and other related articles with US$55 million, iron or steel bars with US$55 million additional, T-shirts and T-shirts with US$49 million and plastic articles with US$44 million.
Exports of raw gold continue to position itself as the main product exported by the Dominican economy, representing in January-July 2022 10.58% of total exports, equivalent to US$782.1 million. In terms of importance, gold was followed by Cigars, which accounted for 8.08% of total exports. Among the main products exported from the agricultural sector, the following stand out: Cocoa beans US$125.8 MM, Bananas US$120.9 MM, and cane sugar US$91.2 MM.
It is important to note that this growth during the period is explained by both domestic and free trade zone exports, which grew by 12.2% and 9.0%, respectively. In terms of participation, free zones represent 61.9% of total exports in January-July 2022, and the national regime 35.5%.
Finally, Biviana Riveiro Disla, executive director of the Export and Investment Center of the Dominican Republic (ProDominicana), reported that “the institution is constantly deploying the actions of the National Plan for the Promotion of Exports, strengthening its internal capacity for services to the internationalization of MSMEs, as well as the internal structure in charge of promoting exports and attracting foreign investment to the Dominican economy; sectors that it considers as the essential pillars of the post-pandemic recovery, growth and economic development with the characteristic of inclusion to increase the quality of life of Dominicans”.
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