Page last updated on January 27, 2020

Economy - overview:
The Dominican economy was dependent on agriculture - primarily bananas - in years past, but increasingly has been driven by tourism, as the government seeks to promote Dominica as an "ecotourism" destination. However, Hurricane Maria, which passed through the island in September 2017, destroyed much of the country’s agricultural sector and caused damage to all of the country’s transportation and physical infrastructure. Before Hurricane Maria, the government had attempted to foster an offshore financial industry and planned to sign agreements with the private sector to develop geothermal energy resources. At a time when government finances are fragile, the government’s focus has been to get the country back in shape to service cruise ships. The economy contracted in 2015 and recovered to positive growth in 2016 due to a recovery of agriculture and tourism. Dominica suffers from high debt levels, which increased from 67% of GDP in 2010 to 77% in 2016. Dominica is one of five countries in the East Caribbean that have citizenship by investment programs whereby foreigners can obtain passports for a fee and revenue from this contribute to government budgets.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$783 million (2017 est.)
$821.5 million (2016 est.)
$800.4 million (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data): 206
[see also: GDP country ranks ]

GDP (official exchange rate):
$557 million (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP (official exchange rate) country ranks ]

GDP - real growth rate:
-4.7% (2017 est.)
2.6% (2016 est.)
-3.7% (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data): 217
[see also: GDP - real growth rate country ranks ]

GDP - per capita:
$11,000 (2017 est.)
$11,600 (2016 est.)
$11,300 (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data): 136
[see also: GDP - per capita country ranks ]

Gross national saving:
10.8% of GDP (2017 est.)
20% of GDP (2016 est.)
14.3% of GDP (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data): 160
[see also: Gross national saving country ranks ]

GDP - composition, by end use:
household consumption: 60.6% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by end use - household consumption country ranks ]
government consumption: 26.2% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by end use - government consumption country ranks ]
investment in fixed capital: 21.5% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by end use - investment in fixed capital country ranks ]
investment in inventories: 0% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by end use - investment in inventories country ranks ]
exports of goods and services: 54.4% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by end use - exports of goods and services country ranks ]
imports of goods and services: -62.7% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by end use - imports of goods and services country ranks ]

GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
agriculture: 22.3% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by sector of origin - agriculture country ranks ]
industry: 12.6% (2017 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition, by sector of origin - industry country ranks ]
services: 65.1% (2017 est.)
[see also: