Dominican Republic

While Latin America’s digital landscape is less well developed than other regions globally, most measures continue to improve, with Coronavirus (COVID-19) also having served to drive the digital landscape development in 2020. With locked-down…

Population expansion in the Dominican Republic will be driven by natural increase in 2021-2040. Ageing will be swift, impacting consumer trends and putting increased pressure on state resources to some extent. Fast urbanisation will result in over…

Ageing, urbanisation and migration continue to be major factors shaping the global population. The number of seniors around the world kept expanding in 2021 and is expected to grow further in the years to 2040. The number of small children is…

The report examines economic landscape of Dominican Republic and provides information on major monetary indicators, foreign trade, investments and government finance. The economy in Dominican Republic expanded in real terms in 2022, driven by…

Beauty and personal care remain the main category in direct selling with brands like Belcorp and Natura posting positive growth in 2022. The use of personalized recommendations and innovative products at affordable prices is supporting development.…

Reduced price initiatives continue to gain momentum in the Dominican Republic as inflation squeezes consumer expenditure. Price sensitivity has been an issue since the pandemic with Dominicans looking for more affordable options. The number of…

Non-grocery retailers posted a strong rise in current value growth in 2022 supported by a rebound in demand as consumer lifestyles shifted back to greater normality post-pandemic. Inflationary pressures have undoubtedly pushed up retail prices, but…

While higher retail prices and lower spending power led to more conscious consumption in 2022, special promotional days provided a welcome boost to value sales throughout the year. Black Friday hosted between the 24 and 27th of November was such an…

Consumers were impacted by high inflation and rising prices in 2022 and increasingly opted to reduce their spending or seek out promotional deals to budget effectively. Dominicans sought out retailers and channels that offered the greatest return on…

This report assesses the business environment in Dominican Republic, focusing on the regulatory environment, stability of the financial system, FDI intake, labour market flexibility and skillset, trade openness, mobility infrastructure, ICT adoption…

Analgesics has not seen a positive performance in 2023 as the height of the pandemic has passed. During the pandemic’s peak, consumers were buying up analgesics at a rapid pace to treat fevers, aches and other symptoms associated with acute…

Despite persistent inflationary pressures in the country and wages that have not yet caught up with market conditions, consumer health recorded growth in 2023. Growth was supported by solid categories, including cough, cold and allergy (hay fever)…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies are among the most popular consumer health items in the Dominican Republic and are experiencing further growth in 2023 despite higher unit prices resulting largely from persistent inflationary pressures…

Despite the challenging economic conditions affecting the country, consumers continue to purchase a variety of dermatological products as awareness about treating certain conditions increases. Categories such as haemorrhoid treatments, medicated…

Dietary supplements continues to expand in 2023 as consumers have a large variety of products to choose from and are responding favourably to new product launches. At the end of 2022, for instance, Megalabs, launched InvitaEnergy, a combination of…

Digestive remedies continued to see an expansion in its consumer base in 2023 with higher penetration levels translating to stronger retail value sales. Products for indigestion and heartburn saw healthy growth thanks to more consumers eating outside…

Herbal/traditional remedies recorded steady growth in 2023 as they are well received and trusted by Dominican consumers. Also, consumers are increasingly turning to more natural products that they perceive to be healthier, cleaner and less processed.…

Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions in the country and higher prices for just about everything, paediatric consumer health managed to record positive growth over the review period and in 2023, reflecting the importance families place on the…

Despite persistent inflationary pressures affecting the country and the sports nutrition industry in particular, consumers continue to purchase these items to help them maintain their regimes of fitness regimes. The fitness boom in the country is…

Given the persistent inflationary pressures experienced in the country, it is not surprising that the vitamins category has also seen significant price increases. According to official sources, vitamins experienced a rise of 6.9% in 2022, which is…

Meal replacement continues to account for most value sales in weight management and wellbeing in 2023 and recorded further growth in the year. They enjoy strong sales promotion from the direct selling players and consumers are highly familiar with…

Wound care is a very mature category in the Dominican Republic, with little innovation or new product launches to spark consumer interest in recent years. The category has consequently seen little in terms of growth given the very high level of…

The picture is expected to be brighter for baby food in 2023, with healthy current value and volume growth. While inflation remains high, pressure is expected to ease. In addition, the appreciation of the Dominican peso against the US dollar is…

Butter and spreads is expected to register moderate current value growth and marginal retail volume growth, as inflation still bites. Consumers are expected to continue to be highly price sensitive and prioritise value for money, but at the same time…

Cheese is expected to register moderate current value and volume growth. However, inflation is still an issue and consumers are expected to continue to be highly price sensitive and prioritise value for money. This price sensitivity is expected to…

The picture is expected to be positive for dairy products and alternatives in 2023, with overall current value and volume sales expected to rise moderately. While inflation remains high, pressure is expected to ease. In addition, the appreciation of…

Drinking milk is expected to register moderate current value and volume growth. However, inflation is still an issue and consumers are expected to continue to be highly price sensitive and prioritise value for money. Flavoured milk drinks is expected…

Other dairy is a sizeable product area in the Dominican Republic, largely supported by the popularity of evaporated milk. In 2023, it is expected to register moderate current value and volume growth. While there is still economic uncertainty, as a…

While sales are still relatively low, there is an appetite for plant-based dairy and it is expected to register very healthy current value and volume growth in 2023. Value sales are largely driven by younger consumers, which consider plant-based…

Yoghurt and sour milk products is expected to register healthy current value and volume growth. While there is still economic uncertainty, as a result of rising inflation, the growth in inflation is expected to ease. That being said, consumers are…

Although economic freedom is slipping, the Dominican Republic enjoys political stability, but corruption remains endemic. Economic performance has been solid, but is slowing and remains dependent on tourism, whilst the country continues to attract…

The swift reopening of the Dominican Republic following the COVID-19 pandemic gave the economy a boost, with the influx of tourists reinvigorating businesses. The tourism sector is a significant contributor to GDP and so the rebound in tourism has…

Retail prices of edible oils continued to rise in 2023 due to the inflationary climate, although at a slower rate than was witnessed in 2022. External factors, such as the high price of commodities and the war in Ukraine, have impacted the supply…

Meals and soups continues to be impacted by rising prices in 2023 as inflation remains high, resulting in double-digit current value growth. Since 2022, increases in the cost of raw materials, shipping costs, labour wages and energy have led to…

Ketchup continues to lead in cooking and table sauces in the Dominican Republic. Brands are innovating by introducing stand-up pouches that provide greater convenience for consumers, such as from the likes of Gourmet, Linda, Heinz and Famosa.…

Jams and preserves is the largest category by volume with the majority of production originating from local companies that use well-known and popular fruits. While some imported brands are available in the Dominican Republic, they are less prevalent…

Bottled water is seeing strong and stable growth in retail volume terms in 2023 with the category seeing stronger growth compared to 2022. Retail volume sales saw slower growth in 2022 as price inflation saw some consumers looking to make savings,…

Carbonates continues to see healthy growth in 2023, both in retail volume and value terms. Nonetheless, growth has been slower than in the previous two years with economic pressures taking their toll and pushing some consumers to focus their spending…

Concentrates has continued to grow in retail volume and value terms in 2023, with both liquid and powder concentrates seeing healthy gains. Growth has been much stronger in current value terms, however, which is largely due to an inflation-driven…

Energy drinks has continued to see strong growth in retail volume terms in 2023 with consumers returning to their pre-pandemic purchasing behaviour. Meanwhile, energy drinks has also seen dynamic double-digit growth in current value terms in 2023,…

The juice category has grown significantly in Dominican Republic in 2022 and 2023 in retail volume terms. The category has seen even stronger growth in current value terms due to inflation-driven price rises. Juice drinks (up to 24% juice) has been…

RTD tea has seen significant growth in retail value and volume terms in 2023 as the category begins its recovery from the heavy losses seen in 2021 and 2022. Sales of RTD tea experienced a dramatic decline in these two years due to the withdrawal of…

Soft drinks has continued to see healthy growth in retail volume and current value terms in 2023. Sales have been supported by consumers returning to their old consumption habits now that the pandemic is over. Although sales have seen steady growth…

Sports drinks has seen strong growth in retail volume terms in 2023, which has been in large part due to the outstanding performance of the Generade brand from Industrias San Miguel del Caribe SA. The brand has energised the category thanks to its…

The bakery industry in the Dominican Republic is mainly composed of microenterprises that are highly vulnerable to any increases in raw material costs due to their limited purchasing power. External factors such as the conflict between Ukraine and…

A sustained increase in prices has hindered the recovery of breakfast cereals. Double-digit price increases were recorded in 2022, and inflation continues to impact all categories in 2023, especially children’s cereals and muesli and granola.…

Coffee remains by far the most important area of hot drinks in Dominican Republic. Not only is the country an important coffee producer but Dominican families also have a deep-rooted habit of consuming coffee in their homes, especially fresh coffee.…

Hot drinks has continued to see dynamic growth in 2023 with this being linked largely to the performance of coffee which is the most popular option among Dominicans. Coffee is not only drunk for breakfast, but also at various times of the day, such…

After coffee, chocolate-based flavoured powder drinks is the most popular category of hot drinks in Dominican Republic. However, the category has seen a significant decline in sales in 2023 through the retail channel, which has been largely due to…

The relentless surge in prices has significantly impacted processed fruit and vegetables, resulting in a notable slowdown in retail volume growth across the categories, with consumers shifting towards fresh produce in search of better prices. The…