Haiti Environment - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel); soil erosion; overpopulation leads to inadequate supplies of potable water and a lack of sanitation; natural disasters

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds

Land use

agricultural land: 66.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 38.5% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 10.2% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 17.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 3.6% (2018 est.)

other: 30% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 59.7% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.47% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access: due to high food prices, natural disasters, sociopolitical turmoil, and worsening insecurity - about 4.7 million people are projected to be facing severe acute food insecurity and are in need of urgent food assistance between March and June 2023; the high levels of food insecurity are the result of elevated food prices, an economic downturn, frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by sociopolitical turmoil and worsening insecurity; the population experiencing the highest levels of acute food insecurity is located in the Cité Soleil commune of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, where inter-gang violence severely affects households’ access to markets and essential services
(2023)

Revenue from forest resources

0.68% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 14.63 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 2.98 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 6.12 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 2,309,852 tons (2015 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 190 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 50 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 1.21 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

14.02 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Haiti on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Haiti 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Haiti 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.