SANTO DOMINGO.- The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported this Monday that foreign direct investment (FDI) reached US$1,536.7 million at the close of the first quarter of 2026, increasing US$92.2 million (6.4%) compared to the same period of the previous year.
The institution highlighted that approximately US$1,046.3 million, more than two-thirds of the flows for this concept, correspond to new capital contributions from investors.
A press release from the entity states that these flows reflect the resilience of the Dominican Republic in attracting FDI, despite geopolitical tensions and trends towards fragmentation noted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its most recent global investment trends monitor.
He explained that the FDI entering the country is based on solid internal foundations, among which he cites sustained social peace, economic and political stability, legal security, tax incentives, modern infrastructure, advanced telecommunications and government support for foreign direct investment.
Tourism and energy: big capital
When assessing the sectoral distribution, the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) shows that half of the FDI inflows went to the tourism (22.5%) and energy (22.2%) sectors, which maintain their dominance. Mining, supported by increased production and favorable international prices, accounted for 17.8% of the total.
The organization emphasizes that the contribution of real estate development (14.8%) is also relevant to FDI, especially because its expansion is closely related to the growth of tourism in the country.
Growth prospects
The Central Bank expects FDI flows to reach around US$5.2 billion by the end of this year, despite the downside risks identified by UNCTAD that were mentioned previously.
The institution notes that, in addition to the increase in FDI flows (6.4%) and remittances (1.9%), other variables in the external sector also showed favorable performance between January and March 2026. In this regard, total exports reached US$4,194.5 million, increasing by 17.5% compared to the first quarter of 2025. Among these, gold exports stand out, reaching US$738.1 million, an increase of US$352.5 million (91.4%) compared to the same period last year, driven by improved production and the record-high prices for the mineral in international markets. Furthermore, exports from free trade zones reached US$2,078.4 million, increasing by 4.6% year-on-year.
revenues tourism for the first quarter of 2026 totaled US$3,909.7 million, some US$656.0 million (20.2%) above the revenues of the first quarter of 2025. This result was mainly due to the increase in visitor arrivals during the period, which exceeded 3,350,000.
It is worth noting that, according to these preliminary figures, foreign exchange earnings generated from FDI, remittances, tourism, exports of goods and other services exceeded US$13.4 billion between January and March 2026, which implies an increase of about US$1.4 billion compared to the same period in 2025, contributing to the relative stability of the exchange rate.
The Central Bank reaffirms its commitment to monitoring the current economic environment in order to continue taking the necessary measures to mitigate the impact of the challenging international landscape on the Dominican economy, thereby ensuring price and exchange market stability.
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